On the Other Side: Apanthropinization
by GoodEnoughTheOpenDoor
Summary: Ask and you shall receive! This is the 6 month bickering between Rhea and Kurama while Yusuke is in his training ordeal with Genkai. It's funny. It's serious. It's a bunch of tragically helpless teenage angst. WOOHOO! P.S. For new readers, please refer to "On the Other Side: Total Desperation" before jumping into this. This is just a continuation of that one.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well hello,hello! Long time no see... Yeah I know, I suck. But hey, eventually is better than never right?**

 **Anywho... This is the beginning of the lovely 6 month skip that I was asked to go back and write. I would have just put it in "On the Other Side: Total Desperation" but that would have made things very, very confusing for new readers. I decided I couldn't really write the rest of Season 2 (which is coming... eventually. Almost done with rough draft of the whole season. after that the chapters will probably be flooding this site) without writing this first, it was just too difficult. I hate spoilers :P**

 **As for new readers: WELCOME MWAHAHAHAHA! Erm, you may want to go read "On the Other Side: Total Desperation" before hopping into this.**

 **What else... Oh yeah! Apanthropinization means "the act of withdrawing from all human concerns; de-socialization; renouncing the world." Urban dictionary definition. Cause I'm lazy. Obviously. XD And the italicized part is just that last scene before the 6 month break as a memory jogger for those who have been waiting ever so patiently. Ok. ENJOY! LOVE YOU GUYS!**

* * *

 _I don't remember much of the first few days of training; I was consumed by anger and withdrawal symptoms from quitting cigarettes cold turkey. I was coached to do the most ridiculous and seemingly redundant tasks ever. After the first week, Kurama re-introduced Hiei to me. He had been sentenced to remain inside our city limits for a decade. (Kurama reassured me that it was not that long of a sentence for a demon.) So, Hiei had nothing better to do than help with training basically. We also had a nice visit with Botan who brought news of Kurama's punishment… and mine._

 _"Wait why am_ I _being punished again?" I growled._

 _"Because you've been proven guilty as an accomplice to Kurama, Hiei, and Gouki," Botan informed me._

 _"Because burning a guy's face off means 'I love you' in Demon World?" I spat sarcastically. "You're full of shit! You said you faggots didn't care about what I did!" I had Botan by the collar of her kimono and a clenched, raised fist._

 _"Rhea," Kurama tried from somewhere behind me._

 _"Well, I'm not supposed to tell you this but," Botan tried to save her ass from my wrath, "You're not actually being accused of doing anything, it's just a convoluted scheme of Koenma's. Yusuke's going through a mandatory six month training program and we need a stand-in Spirit Detective. Kurama can't technically hold the title because he's a demon."_

 _"So you're just going to force me to do it?" I hissed, refusing to release Botan or lower my fist. "You jack asses realize I have no idea how to use my corrosive power, right?"_

 _Botan laughed nervously._

 _"This would be a good way to learn more about why you can't use your powers at will," Kurama wrapped his hand around my wrist and forced me to lower my fist that threatened to smash into Botan's face at any second._

 _I sighed and shoved Botan away from me, "Fine. First I get screwed by the mafia; now I'm getting screwed by the Afterworld. Fucking terrific."_

 _"I thought you would jump at an opportunity like this," Kurama retorted calmly._

 _"Yeah, if I'm not being_ forced _into it and I actually had some power to protect my ass from this otherworldly bullshit," I snapped._

 _"To be honest, your skills from the mafia should be plenty, for the most part," Botan threw in trying to cheer me up._

 _"I get it," I turned back to her, "You're obviously telling us this now because you want to send us on a mission so give it to us then shut the fuck up and get the fuck out of my face."_

 _Botan sighed, "His name is Kouta. He portrays a successful businessman for the Minowa Company by day and traffics women at night." She pulled out a picture of him and handed it to me. "Rumor is, he's about to make a huge sale for the company that will send the Japanese economy into turmoil so he has to be captured alive A.S.A.P. and forced to cancel the transaction. Then we can take him into custody and handle the rest in Spirit World."_

 _I deadpanned, "I can't even kill the bastard?"_

 _"Only as a last resort. He set up this transaction with an unknown party and it would be a lot less messy for everyone if we didn't have to get an innocent human from the company involved in the cancellation."_

 _"You irk me."_

 _Botan fabricated and hopped onto her oar, "I'm really sorry about the way they're doing things up there, Rhea. We really appreciate you helping out. I promise you'll start to like this job in no time," she offered as she floated away._

 _I turned to Kurama who held up his hands in defense, "I hate you."_

 _"Aren't you the one who was complaining about not living a double life last week?"_

 _I sighed and sat down on a tree trunk that had been knocked down during training earlier that week, "I guess so. I just hate the way they presented it. They could have just asked instead of being cunts about it." I flipped the picture over. It had addresses and other things scribbled onto it. I could only assume that they were Kouta's normal spots. Hiei grunted after a moment and disappeared._ I guess he doesn't want to help…

* * *

"God Dammit!" I kicked an empty coke can across the street. Kurama eyed me cautiously as I continued to grumble under my breath. "I don't wanna do this shit."

His face was calm and soft. I couldn't figure out if he was holding back from mocking me or his own distaste in our present situation. "Perhaps we should try thinking about this from a different perspective."

I shot a glare at him but the notion quickly left and I went back to glaring at the pavement. I knew he was right. I just hated the way this shit was presented.

Earlier that afternoon Botan had paid us a visit during our training. She brought us the horrid news of our punishment for stealing the artifacts of darkness. Of course, I really didn't have anything to do with that shit! I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time a few too many times. _Stupid…_

So here we were, set out on our first case as stand-in spirit detectives while Yusuke was away at his own special training ordeal.

We arrived at the front door to this elaborate pad somewhere up in a midtown highrise condominium. There was elegant, yet enticing, music and laughter seeping out from behind the front door. Kurama and I ducked around the corner and out of sight to avoid being seen by anyone arriving or leaving.

"Well isn't this fucking great?" I grumbled.

"He's either intelligent enough to prepare for someone like us, or completely ignorant," Kurama analyzed the possible motives behind the party taking place.

"Well it's not like we can just barge in and arrest him for being a meddling demon in front of innocent humans," I shot back unamused.

"And if there are other demons on the premises, they are capable of masking their energies," Kurama added more food for thought.

As I searched for an answer, I could feel my mind and body changing. This feeling was all too familiar. Clips of similar instances flashed behind my eyes of my mafia days - as I've come to call that time in my life that I want desperately to distance myself from. In all honesty it had barely been a month since the last time I spoke face-to-face with Tatsuhiro. It was still strange to me. The whole thing. One moment I was a sixteen year-old, hardened, mafia killing machine and in the next I was an awkward, meddling, school classmate, and now a completely amateur stand-in spirit detective."So let's attend the party," I heard the words leave my lips.

"I think we might be a little underdressed for the occasion," Kurama replied casually.

I peeked around the corner, "Looks likes our wardrobe has arrived," I answered gesturing towards a couple who were approaching the door to the party. Kurama gave me an understanding nod and bolted up behind the couple. His body blocked my view, but within seconds the couple was unconscious. I ran over and helped him drag the bodies back around the corner. We quickly changed into their clothing and hid our own clothes elsewhere.

I was gingerly trying to push my breasts more into the halter top black cocktail dress when Kurama announced his bemusement. "What are you doing?" he ventured cautiously.

I continued readjusting the dress. "Well," I shifted once more, "I never thought I'd have this issue for starters."

"What problem are you having exactly?"I could just hear his chuckling undertones.

"My boobs are too big for this damn thing!" I growled annoyed.

"I don't see how that's a problem."

"Of course you wouldn't! You're a pervert!"

He just laughed a little and made his way to the front door. I sighed and struggled to catch up. "Also, I fucking hate high heels."

"Yes, I can see how those would pose a problem," he had a tauntingly light hearted tone. Before I could respond, a butler opened the door and invited us in.

"That was rather easy," I grumbled as we entered the main gathering room. A server with a tray of champagne offered us a glass. Kurama reached out and grabbed two. He handed me one and we scanned the scene, barely acknowledging the server.

The people around us were all dressed up nicely with designer brands, jewels, and upperclass hair styles. The music was gaudy and so was the decor. Bubbly drinks and hors d'oeuvres were everywhere. I then spotted Kurama already making smalltalk with two men and a woman. He waved me over with the biggest fake smile I had seen him wear yet. I took in a deep breath and walked over mentally preparing myself for some stupid act I was about to put on.

"Ah, there she is," Kurama cooed as he laid his hand to rest on the small of my back. "This is my office assistant. Miss Saramika, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Kouta." _Really? That's the best fake name you could come up with?_

I smiled and bowed gently as I caught the wave of demonic energy radiate off of him. "It's an honor to meet you, Sir."

"Mr. Kouta was just telling me about his library. You like books, don't you, Miss Saramika?" Kurama poked my back sternly, prodding me into this impromptu game of his.

"Oh, yes! I love books!" I smiled cheerfully. My cheeks felt like they were going to fall off, they were being forced way too high. "I could stay in a library for days." _I hate you, Kurama…_ I mentally deadpanned.

"Exquisite!" Mr. Kouta enthused. "Would you like to take a peek? I haven't had the chance to show her off yet."

 _That just_ sounds _dirty the way he said it..._ "I'd love to!"

Mr. Kouta motioned for me to follow him. We went up a fancy flight of stairs onto a mezzanine hallway that overlooked the party below. "It's right over here," he purred as he opened the door at the end of the hallway. As I entered I caught a glimpse of Kurama being stopped by two men as he tried to follow us up. Mr. Kouta closed the door behind us. "So, Miss _Saramika_ ," his tone turned dark and hungry, "I don't remember putting you or Mr. Mirugi on my guest list. You wouldn't happen to be from one of my rivaling companies trying to foil the new partnership, would you?" He started closing in on me like a cat about to pounce on his prey.

I turned to face him calmly, thankful that the stupid act was over, "I'm afraid not." I studied his movements carefully, trying to predict what he'd do next. "Unfortunately, for both of us, I was sent by a much higher power." His eyebrows perked up curiously. "The Spirit World."

Mr. Kouta erupted into laughter, "The Spirit World sent a half-breed and a little girl to stop me! It's just too funny to be tru-!" I punched him square in the face sending him flying into the wall.

"If you say so," I grumbled shaking out my hand.

Mr. Kouta started chuckling again. "Well this should be fun!" He jumped up and his chest started expanding, ripping his shirt.

I sighed. _Guess I expected to see something like this happen sooner or later. Man, I watch too much sci-fi._ "Great…" I pulled out my pistol that was strapped to my thigh and unloaded a round into each of his knee caps. He howled in pain and used the wall to push himself forward with his now monstrously toned arms. He was incredibly fast for his size. _Aren't they all?_ I mentally deadpanned.

But still, I was no match for this beast. He took me down with him, knocking the gun clean out of my hand with his brute force. He had me pinned down with his gigantic dead-weight legs and pulled back his arm for a knock-out punch. I grunted from discomfort as I threw all of my upper body weight into my fists that I clenched together just in time to slam into his collarbone as an extreme measure to prevent his trike. Luckily, it worked just enough to knock him off balance long enough for me to dodge the attack. His fist broke through the floor where my head had been moments before.

The wake of his power was incredible. It rolled through my body, paralyzing me with fear as I started to understand just how much shit I was in. His other hand flew down and wrapped around my throat cutting off the oxygen to my lungs. I scratched at his chokehold out of pure instinct, but it was completely useless. _Fuck, this sucks! Why does this keep happening?! Are all demons this unimaginative?!_ My sarcastic, inward defences against my insecurities kicked in, reminding me of my encounter with Gouki.

My body started to tingle as my sight dimmed. _This_ was also starting to become familiar. I just hoped it would be enough to unleash a burst of my crazy mystery power to save me from this situation.

"Rhea!" I saw Kurama's redness burst through the door right before I completely blacked out. My body burned hot and I heard an agonizing scream come from Kouta before his body weight vanished from on top of me.

I heard Kurama yell something and then a thud that felt like it shook the universe itself. Then the floor beneath me caved in thanks to Kouta's earlier attack.

* * *

I blinked away my blurred vision to meet a stern red-head looking down at me. People were screaming and scattering in the background while they broke whatever they ran into as they tried to flee the scene. I felt my legs and neck ache from pain when I made to move. I tried to get up anyways, but something was making it rather difficult to do so. As my senses started becoming more clear I realized Kurama was carrying me through the rubble.

"What happened?" I choked out as I gave in to my aching body and allowed him to lead us away from the scene.

"You nearly eroded half of Kouta's body. You're probably experiencing fatigue from the amount of spirit energy you used." He spoke calmly and seamlessly as he shifted my weight between his arms. "I pulled him off of you and cut his head off for good measure. Then the floor collapsed and you fell through."

I stared up at him as the events and the aftermath came together. "Thank you," I muttered looking down out of shame. _How fucking pathetic! This stand-in spirit detective crap is a goddamn death sentence. I can't compete with this otherworldly bullshit._

Kurama came to a park bench and released me to sit down. "What about that transaction shit Botan was talking about?" I asked after a minute of silence.

"I took care of it," Kurama answered shortly. "I apologize. I should have wrapped that up sooner."

"It's fine," I brushed off, staring into the concrete.

"What's wrong?" Kurama finally ventured to interrogate my rather defeated tone.

"That was a rather shameful event," I huffed. "I need to get a lot stronger if I'm going to be forced to do this kind of shit."

Kurama started chuckling beneath his hand.

"What the _fuck_ is so funny?!" I snapped.

"You're really against being in the 'damsel in distress' position, aren't you?" he blatantly joked.

"Fuck you! Don't ever call me that again!" I yelled and shoved him arbitrarily.

"Or, more specifically, you're against having a need for a knight in shining armour," he continued.

"Will you just shut the fuck up!" I jumped up to storm away but I instantly became lightheaded and Kurama hopped up to catch my fall. "Go away!"

He choked down his laughter. "Relax. This is what we're training for."

I was about to respond when another thought intercepted it, "Fuck! My gun!"

"It's right here," he pulled it out and handed it to me.

I snatched it up and returned it to the holster strapped to my thigh.

He chuckled at me again before arguing to let him walk me home.


	2. Chapter 2

It was another beautiful, sunny day; and here I was once again staring out the window not paying a lick of attention to the class being held around me. All I could think about was hearing that last bell relinquishing us from the school day so I could get to the park and train. Even though it had been nearly two months, my encounter with Kouta seemed to have given me the motivation Kurama was looking for. He was relentless when we sparred - which I was thankful for. Prior to that incident he seemed to be holding back or going way too easy on me. It had become my new vice. It was the one lesson I looked forward to every day. Even though my double life was quiet again, I could feel my desire for more action growing.

"Miss Sarama," the teacher had repeated my name for a second time and a few girls were snickering under their breaths.

"Yeah?" I turned back to the class.

The teacher sighed, "Can you please tell the class how to solve the equation on the board, or at least tell us what's so fascinating outside that window?"

"Well, I rather enjoy staring at rooftops. But the answer is three," I replied sarcastically.

"Very funny," the teacher retorted unamused. "Do you think you can tell the rest of the class how you got the correct answer seeing as you barely glanced at the board?"

I mentally sighed. _How draining..._ "It's a basic quadratic formula. All you need to do is get rid of the fractions by multiplying each integer by three to give you the most simplified version of the equation. Now, can you tell me how this problem has anything to do with calculus?"

"Don't be smart," the teacher said as she started walking back to the board. "If you had been paying attention, you would know how this relates to our upcoming lesson."

"Whatever, I'm sure I'll figure it out before I leave this classroom anyways," I bit back.

The teacher ignored me and started writing another problem on the board, "The first integral we will be solving is…" I went back to staring out the window. Only, this time there was a man standing at the entrance to the school yard. There was something off about him. After analyzing his vibe I realized he was a demon disguised as a human. _But why is he here?_ That question was answered quick enough when I saw Kurama walk out to meet him. I could feel their energies creating tension almost instantly as they exchanged a few words. _Something's wrong._ As they made to leave I got a chill down my spine. I couldn't explain how I knew, but I was certain something terrible was about to happen. Without any explanation, I jumped up and bolted out of the classroom.

"Miss Sarama!" I heard the teacher yell after me.

"Oh yeah! The answer is three halves natural log X minus 3 minus five thirds natural log X minus one plus a constant! Bye!" I was already jumping over the railing of the stairway and on my way out the front door. I got to the entrance of the school yard, but they had already dipped around a corner. Thankfully, this demon had no desire to conceal his energy, which made following them a lot easier.

I caught up just in time to see them enter a small yard tucked in between some houses. I quietly leaned up against the wall, making sure not to be seen by anyone. I picked up on at least eight more demonic energies awaiting them inside the yard.

"Your mother is here, safe and sound, as promised," I heard the original demon announce. _Wait! Holy shit! What?!_

There was a short silence. "What do you want from me, exactly?" I heard Kurama reply finally. The tone in his voice was calm yet I could clearly hear his anger being redirected into a death-dealing threat.

"It's simple really. All that I ask is for you to come with us and give us your complete cooperation." The man paused again and his tone changed to a more lighthearted one. "If you comply without resisting, both your mother and your little girlfriend hiding behind the wall will be left unscathed."

 _Damn…_ I felt my chest tighten.

"There's no need to hide from us, girl," the demon called out to me as one of the other demons poked his head out from the opening to the yard to watch me. "Running won't do you any good either. Why don't you come join the party?"

I gritted my teeth before moving to show myself. I took one step into the yard. The demon had two more guys standing next to him hovering over Kurama's unconscious mother, who rested peacefully in the grass. Two more demons moved closer behind me, one grabbing my right wrist as insurance. My instincts wanted badly to fight back, but something in the way Kurama's aura flared around him made me think better of it. He didn't move a muscle the entire time. He just stood facing the obvious ringleader dead in the face. It was becoming very apparent to me that if we decided to engage in fighting, we would surely lose.

"So, have you made your decision yet?" The ringleader turned back to Kurama.

"If I choose to comply, you will leave these women here and unharmed; that is the deal, correct?" Kurama verified.

"Correct," the ringleader purred.

"Then you have my cooperation," Kurama replied, never wavering from his statuesque composition. He then turned slightly towards me but never made eye contact, "Rhea, take care of my mother." I nodded once. I was completely torn between what to do, but I knew from my own experiences that my body was stiff and emotionless. My instincts knew better than my mind.

"Then we shall be on our way," he purred again and motioned for the two demons at my back to release me. They easily threw me to the ground, nearly on top of Kurama's poor, unconscious mother. I grunted as I hit the ground and tried to get back up, but in the split second it took me to find my footing, they were gone once again. I ran to the entrance of the yard, but there was no trace of them.

"Damn," I gritted my teeth. _What the fuck was all that?_ I turned back to where Kurama's mother was lying in the grass. But to my complete and horrifying surprise, she was not on the ground. In fact, she was standing barely two feet away from me looking me dead in the face. "Ahk!" I jumped back. "H-hi… Miss Minamino. Wh-what a pleasant surprise." _Oh shit! shit-shit-shit-shit!_ I laughed nervously. Ok, so I sucked at dealing with other people's parents normally. _This_ , however was a whole new meaning to the term awkward.

"You're that girl my son's been hanging out with recently, aren't you?" I was shocked all over again. Her tone was gentle and light. Almost like she was excited to meet me. "Miss Rhea Sarama, isn't it?"

I sweatdropped, the smile on my face carved out of pure anxiety and embarrassment. "Y-yes that's me." _I am SO FUCKED!_

Even though her features were warm and soft, I could feel her seriousness staring me down.

"Err…" I choked. I knew, but I asked anyways, "You were awake the whole time weren't you?"

"Yes," was her short and stern reply but she quickly turned motherly again. "Would you care to join me for some tea? I have some questions for you, and you're not leaving my sight until they are answered."

 _Yep, I'm fucked._ I laughed again nervously, "Sure, sounds good." _Kurama's gonna fucking kill me…_

I followed her back to their house where she invited me to sit at the kitchen island as she put on a pot of tea. We sat in silence as the kettle started to whistle. She poured two cups and sat opposite of me after placing a cup down in front of me. I was still mentally freaking out. This totally sucked. _What the hell am I supposed to do?!_ I just kind of stared at her as she took a sip of her tea and sat back a little.

"My son," she began. She obviously let her act slip purposefully. She was solemn. "He's not human, is he?"

I nearly spit out my tea that I was attempting to swallow. "What? Why would you say that?" _How the HELL did she know that?_

Miss Minamino stared into her cup, "It's an ancient Shinto myth. They believed that ancient spirits once walked this earth, embodying otherworldly creatures. Under special circumstances these spirits could depart from their demonic bodies and re-enter the world by possessing unborn children. It sounds silly doesn't it? I must be a horrible mother to accuse my only child of being a demon," she side-tracked. "I just can't seem to get a grasp on it. He's too smart, and too mature-how can a fifteen-year-old boy have so much control over his hormones? I first noticed it when he was around eleven years old. He just sort of… changed."

I sighed and sat back in my chair. _Holy crap! This woman is good... what the hell am I supposed to say?_ I looked her over again. She was lost in her thoughts now. I knew I had to lie but I felt bad about it just looking at her. I could tell she was worried and lost. I figure _most_ mothers are like that. I couldn't just spill the beans either though. "If I may ask, why are you telling me this?"

She sounded relieved to reply. "Suichi has never been very good at making friends. I figured you must be pretty special for him to want to spend so much time with you. I thought having this talk might help me understand my son a little better."

There I go choking on my tea again. "Me? Special? I wouldn't say that. Entertaining maybe. As far as I'm aware, you're the only person on this planet he cares about. And he cares a lot, at least that I'm sure of."

Miss Minamino started giggling. "That's sort of sweet. But, you're still young. You might not quite see it yet, but I can tell." _What the hell is she talking about now? God, they_ both _talk in riddles!_

"You are definitely Suichi's mother," I deadpanned.

She started giggling behind her hand again, "Well that's reassuring." She switched gears once more. Now she seemed more determined than ever to get answers out of me. "So tell me. What has my son gotten himself into? I have to know the truth. I won't say anything to him. I just need to know. I _am_ his mother. I worry myself sick about him."

 _Huh... funny..._ God I felt awful. The way she held herself was amazing, even though she was obviously wanting to get all emotional she still gave the presence of a strong and determined woman. I felt like she could hold me there forever trying to get me to squeal. We stared at each other for a long while in silence, neither of us willing to give in any time soon.

She eventually got up and poured us another round of tea. I couldn't take much more of this. It was too awkward. We were never even properly introduced! I could only imagine what she thought of me- that I'm some kind of delinquent bitch that got her son caught up in the black market and I was dragging him down with me. _God, this fucking sucks!_

"But you're not normal either, are you? That's why you two get along so well." She said it so nonchalantly as she put the kettle back on the stove top.

I bit my lip. _She's more perceptive than I originally thought._ "Probably." In all honesty, I could probably sit in her kitchen dodging her questions forever. The only problem was, I was never sure if I really wanted to in the first place. Even acknowledging this made it harder. I sighed and stared back into my cup of tea. "I'm sorry."

"You aren't supposed to talk about whatever's going on; I understand." She was now moving around the kitchen, cleaning and possibly preparing to cook something. "But I do wonder if it was Suichi who asked you not to say anything, or someone else."

 _You know what? Fuck it._ "Both," I replied shortly. "Just out of curiousity, what would you do if I told you the truth?"

"Nothing," She replied casually without skipping a beat as she dried off her hands from messing around in the sink and sat back down to face me and sip her tea. "It's not like I could do any good in the situation anyway." _Okay, now she sounds more like me…_ I mentally deadpanned. I studied her for a moment. She picked up on this too easily and continued, "As far as I'm concerned, I never left the house this morning. I remember having the day off and doing some cleaning. Then I took a nice long nap on the couch while watching midday reruns of my favorite sitcoms." I started to open my mouth to say something. "Please, I stopped falling for his short term memory poisons over a year ago."

"Well, fuck," I threw a hand up and let it drop back onto the table as if to say 'good fucking job, Kurama.' She sat back with a smirk that reminded me entirely too much of Kurama when he knows he's won an arguement. At that moment I knew it was over. I had already given in and reacted too much to an outrageous hypothesis. I had confirmed that her theories were closer to the truth than even she had originally thought.

"I have an idea," She perked up just a little. "What if I only asked yes or no questions? That way, you aren't really telling me anything." She gave me a wink, trying to make the entire ordeal more casual.

I sighed and forsake the whole tea thing. "I guess that would technically work." _Yup, I gave in._

"Excellent," she sat back and took a sip of her tea. "Let's start back at the beginning. So my son is a reincarnated demon."

I was really glad that I put down the cup of tea because I'm pretty sure I would have spit it out. She just said it so openly. Like she had accepted it a long time ago and was completely okay with it. "Um...yes…" I could feel my eye twitching. _Why the hell am I doing this? To save face? That's not like me at all!_

"Are you answering honestly?" She lifted her eyebrow.

I squeezed my eyes shut. I liked to pride myself in my loyalty and this was far from that. "Yes," I heard my voice speak out with more conviction.

"He also goes by the name 'Kurama' doesn't he? Is that his original name?"

"Yeah…"

"Are you a demon?" She eyed me cautiously.

"Oh God no!" I shouted, jerking upright. "I'm just one of those freaks who's always in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Then how do you explain your connection with my son?" She was asking point-blank.

"I thought we were asking yes or no questions," I shot back. She gave me a glare. I sat back again. "For now, let's just say I'm a monster of a different kind. We can talk about that after you're done interrogating me."

"I'll remember that," she warned before getting back to the topic at hand. "Did you know he purrs sometimes when he sleeps?"

"What? No. Wait, are you serious?!" I tried really hard not to laugh but failed miserably.

"Okay good, I just had to make sure you guys weren't sleeping together," she was trying desperately not to laugh as well; probably more towards my reaction.

My face burned bright fucking red. "Why in the _hell_ would you think that?! I personally thought he was gay!"

"I think he might be too," she whispered to the side. Ok, we both busted out laughing for a moment before she cut it short. "Is my son committing crimes?"

"No." _Well, not that I'm currently aware of anyways._

"Do you know who those men were?"

"No."

"Are they demons too?"

"Yes, I think so." It was really, really strange to be this blatantly honest.

"Is he in trouble?" Her voice started to wander into that worrying tone again.

"I don't know," I admitted.

"Can you help him?"

"I can try." _Wow, these questions are starting to make me feel bad again._

"Why does he do these things?"

I sighed and stared at my hands that were hiding in my lap. _Damn, I really don't like this game._ I put my hands flat out on the table. "Ok, I give in. This is too much of a hassle. I have more important things to get back to; like figuring out what the fuck just happened to your son.

"The whole story, from my perspective in a nutshell goes like this: Three years ago my father got involved with the mafia, screwed them over and I took over his position to save my family's lives. They turned me into a killing machine, for human standards anyways. One day they took my sister away and Kurama found me momentarily lapsing into insecurities, or crying as I prefer not to call it. He killed off the mafia," I glanced down at the cup before me and mumbled, "which is probably highly illegal on a spiritual level for him to have done but...," I looked back up and continued "he saved my sister, my father, and me from the shipwreck we called life. Then I found out that humans weren't necessarily the only sentient beings walking around and learned that he was stealing a magical item from spirit world to save your life. The item didn't kill him like it was supposed to, but hey! Look. You're alive and healthy." I gave her a wry smile.

I continued when she didn't say anything. "So then he got bored and started training me to use my own spirit power, which I have but can't seem to figure out how to use. Oh, and then the ruler of the spirit world decided to make the two of us stand in spirit detectives: basically idiots that hunt down demons doing illegal things and arrest and, sometimes, kill them. We usually end up killing them to save our own lives. I still don't know what the fuck happened earlier today though. But if we are done here, I'd like to get back to figuring that out."

As if on que, the doorbell rang. Miss Minamino just looked at me for a moment and then got up to answer the door. I followed close behind her, because who knew what the fuck was about to be on the other side of that door.

"Good afternoon!" _That is_ definitely _the last voice I want to hear right now._ "I was wondering if Suichi Minamino was home." Blue hair and a Meiou High school girl's uniform. God those colors clashed.

"Oh, I'm afraid he's out at the moment, but I can let him know you came by. Would you like me to relay a message for you?" Miss Minamino was incredible. It's like the entire conversation never happened. Sweet. Innocent. Oblivious. Motherly.

"Oh sure… um- Oh hi, Rhea! I didn't know you were here," Botan looked really fucking confused which made me bite my tongue not to burst into laughter.

"Actually I was just leaving, Miss Minamino and I were just catching up over some tea." I quickly stepped out the door and turned and bowed to her. "I hope you enjoy the rest of your day off. You should take a nice long nap like you were talking about doing. I think I want one too."

Miss Minamino giggled a little and waved goodbye, "I will! It's always a pleasure to have you visit Miss Sarama! My door's always open, okay!" And she shut the door as we turned onto the sidewalk. _Oh, thank God I'm free... well..._ I eyed Botan who was staring at me horribly confused as to why I was chillin' with Kurama's mother. _...Free of one horrid conversation at least…_

* * *

 **A/N: Well... that was fun! XD I've always wanted to write about my interpretation of Kurama's mother so here ya have it. XD I hope you liked it! For my new and old readers alike, I would very very very much appreciate reviews. Even on my older stuff. It helps a lot more than you realize. I want to know exactly what you liked about this story/this chapter/my writing style/etc. I don't have a lot of self esteem, but the reviews always help motivate me to write more. :)  
**

 **I would also like to send my personal thanks to NightlyRowenTree, Just 2 Dream of You, Wings of Wax, Pelawen Night, and Booom BaBy (Even though you reviewed OTOS Total Desperation, I know you'll see this here :P) for reviewing. I hope to hear what you guys think of this chapter too!**

 **I LOURVEZ YOU ALLZZ!**


	3. Chapter 3

"I didn't know you knew Kurama's human mother," Botan announced after we walked a block down the road.

"I didn't," I grimaced. _Great… Now I have to convince Botan that I did what Kurama asked without anyone ever finding out that HIS MOM ALREADY KNEW HE WAS A FUCKING DEMON!_ "It's a long story." Botan eyed me curiously. "I'm sure whatever you're here for is more important anyways. Why were you looking for Kurama?"

"Oh yes! Well I went to your normal training spot but no one was there. So I went to your apartment but you weren't there either so I decided to try and find Kurama at his house. But then I found you," she explained.

"Does this have a point?" I interrupted to keep off the subject that I was at Kurama's house.

"Yes. I have a new assignment for you guys. There's a band of demons that just rolled into town. They've been kidnapping demons around the world and torturing and selling them in the black market," Botan said reluctantly. "What's worse is that Hiei has gone missing. We can't track him anywhere."

"Wait," I stopped walking and she followed suit. "A group of demons corralled Kurama into going with them earlier today."

"What?!" Botan gasped. "You don't think..." She trailed off.

"How do we find them?" I jumped to the next step without bothering to think of the possibilities.

"Well..." Botan was still a little in shock from the coincidence. "I have this kit that Yusuke is supposed to use during his assignments. If we have something with Kurama's DNA we can put it in the tracker."

"Well, go get it," I ordered.

"You have Kurama's DNA?" Botan looked at me suspiciously.

"No! But I'm sure I can find something in his bedroom." Botan gave me a strange and slightly mortified look. "That just sounds wrong," I mentally deadpanned.

Botan giggled, "Okay. Meet back here in half an hour."

I nodded and turned to head back to Kurama's house. I really didn't want to encounter his mother again. Like... ever. I snuck in through his bedroom window and after tediously searching his perfectly spotless room I found his hair brush. One single fucking strand of hair. _Seriously? Does he even use this thing on a daily basis?_ I put the strand of hair inside a tissue I pulled out from a box on his desk. I heard his mother coming up the stairs and shoved the napkin into my pocket and dipped out the window and took off around a corner to avoid being seen. _Shit. I left the window open. Oh well…_

Botan finally showed back up and presented me with a watch. "Did you find anything in his room?"

"Luckily," I pulled out the tissue. "The damn bastard is OCD as fuck."

"Eww," Botan reacted to the tissue.

I shot her a glare, "Grow up. I put a piece of hair in the tissue so I wouldn't lose it."

"Oh," Botan stuck her tongue out apologetically. "Ok," she opened the watch. "Put the hair in here." I did so and she closed it. The needle started twitching and ended pointing northeast. "Now we just follow the arrow."

"Seems simple enough," I commented as she strapped the watch onto her wrist. We followed the arrow for the better part of an hour before it started flipping out. We were standing in a plaza surrounded by people.

"So what the hell does that mean?" I monotoned.

"I don't know. I've never used this device like this," Botan admitted.

"Great," I groaned and scanned the area. Amongst the countless mindless faces I saw a sign directing people down a flight of stairs to the subway. _Not particularly my favorite mode of transportation, but then again, now I have a pretty good guess as to why._ "Hey, Botan. Follow me."

We entered the subway and I bought ourselves two tickets to pass through the turnstiles. We looked back to the watch and it had calmed down. Now it was pointing to the right side of the tunnel. "So… Where ever we were above ground must have been right on top of where he is now?"

"That's our best bet," I concurred. "Come on." I led her down a narrow passageway alongside the tunnel that tracked the subway train's course. We quickly came to a small staircase that lead to a maintenance door. The needle on the watch started swaying from side to side in the general direction of the door. "I'll take that as an 'X marks the spot' type of conclusion."

"Are you sure?" Botan questioned timidly.

"Yeah," I replied quickly, "I guess. I'm still getting used to the general gist of this shit, but I can definitely feel something demonic coming from behind that door." I really didn't know how else to explain it. Sensing someone else's energy wasn't like feeling someone else's touch upon your skin; it was more of a gut wrenching feeling that made you want to throw in the towel and walk away flipping the bird to anyone who called you a pussy for it.

"Ok," Botan accepted easily. "So, what do we do now?" I could hear her nervousness breaking through her voice. I guess the grim reaper was still new to this type of shit.

"The only thing we can do," I answered dryly. She looked at me confused. "Run in blindly hoping it works out for the best." I gave her a cheesy ass grin and pulled out my gun from its holster against my thigh. "You stay here. I don't even know how this is going to turn out for myself. I doubt I'd be able to help if something happened to you."

Botan nodded in silent agreement, "Just be careful, okay?"

"That's not how this works," I shot her down as I stood in front of the door and kicked it in. Two men turned to look at me in surprise but quickly moved to attack. I unloaded two bullets into each of their temples and they fell over as I entered the storage room. It was cluttered with crates and scrap metal. There was another door that was thrown open and three men came at me. The first went down with two more bullets to the face. The second took a bullet to the arm as he swung at me and knocked me back into some crates. He lunged for me but I rolled out of the way. I aimed and fired my last round into the back of his neck. He went limp over the crates. The third guy advanced on me and I easily dodged behind a crate. I ripped my spare magazine from the holster and emptied the one that was currently in my gun. Before I could get the spare magazine loaded up, the crates smashed to pieces behind me and I was thrown into the back wall. This guy was mere inches from me when I heard a clang and he fell over. Botan stood behind him with a metal pole that was bloodied at the end. She looked horrified.

"Rhea!" She exclaimed, her voice broken in fear.

"Thanks," I replied as I finished loading my gun and stood back up. "You should really make yourself scarce though." It was too late. An even bigger guy came through the second door and stood directly behind Botan. On instinct I unloaded two rounds into his face. This guy was of a different class though; he didn't fall or stumble backwards at all. He just continued to reach out for Botan. I grabbed piece of metal from a pile near me and lurched forward, driving one end through the beast's throat. This time he fell backwards without struggle.

Botan stared at the display in horror before silently agreeing to go back outside of the storage room. I turned back to the second doorway, waiting to see if another goon would come storming through. After about ten seconds of silence and peace, I decided to advance. I peered into the second room but couldn't find anyone. It was very poorly lit, and the crates created a maze throughout the room. It was eerily silent. At least, until I heard laughter echoing through the room. The voice was familiar enough to distinguish it as the ring leader's. He was talking some shit to someone who remained silent.

 _Shit, I know there were at least two or three more guys this afternoon in the yard… but I can't sense them anywhere. What I do sense is a pissed off little fire demon and a suicidal fox… So that answers the questions about Hiei from earlier. No, wait there is another energy nearby…_ The crates behind me were obliterated and the force of the blow threw me to the ground once again. "God fucking dammit! I'm gonna have a fucking concussion by the time I'm done with you ass holes!"

The demon who attacked me laughed as he approached me cautiously. "I think that's the least of your worries, sweetheart." He reached out at me. I aimed my gun and fired almost point blank into his hand. He didn't even twitch as he continued moving in and swatting the gun out of my hand. I picked up the metal pole that I had let go of earlier and attempted to swing at him, but the guy just caught the pole and tore it out of my hands and threw it somewhere behind him.

"Well, fuck. Why weren't _you_ the one guarding the damn door!" I threw out as I stumbled up and away from him.

He started laughing, "That's what I'm sayin'!" I guess he decided to get serious because before I could react he was behind me and my arms were immobile. He tied them together and swung me over his shoulder. "Hey, at least you gave a good show, sweetheart!"

"Call me that one more time and I'll kick you in the face," I threatened.

"Oh, yeah? How you gonna do that, _sweetheart_?" He egged on. I brought my foot up and into his eye. He growled and dropped me onto the floor. Before either of us could continue our back and forth a hand snatched up my hair and brought me to my feet.

"Excellent job, you big oaf," The ringleader was grinning down at me. "He may be stupid, but at least he gets the job done." I tried to look for Kurama and Hiei but this douche bag held my head in place, his fist firmly grasping my hair near the back of my skull. I knew they were there right behind me though; both of their energies flared when I was pulled to my feet."Now that your little escapade is over, where was I? Oh, yes! Coming up with new ways to torture our little friends."

"Why?" I managed to growl as he jerked at the back of my head a little.

"You shouldn't ask your captors such mundane questions," he threw me by my hair with such force I was sure he pulled out a nice chunk of it. It hurt way more being tossed around by these demons. Half the time I was surprised I was conscious after a blow at all. I landed face first into something soft. It took me a second to realize it was the lap of my bloody fox buddy just from the smell alone.

Once again, I was being attacked way quicker than my body could respond to anything. The demon had snatched up my hair again and pulled me to my knees. This time I got a clear look at Kurama. He was tied to a chair that was bolted into the ground. The same with Hiei who I could see out of the corner of my eye. Kurama was nearly drenched from head to toe in his own blood. He stared back at me with that hardened emotionless face of his.

"Actually, I think I've just come up with the perfect way to torture our little fox boy," the demon sang from behind me. He grabbed my hips to keep them in place as he pushed my head back down into Kurama's legs. This position was more familiar than I'd ever care to admit. I knew immediately what his intentions were. I tried to get out of his grasp but I might as well have not even bothered, I could barely move an inch. _You've got to be_ fucking _kidding me!_

I felt his hand snake up my uniform's skirt and tear at my undergarments. I felt Kurama twitch but nothing else. I could barely breath, the demon had my head shoved tight against Kurama's legs. I felt paralyzed, and not just by physical boundaries. _It's happening again..._ Tatsuhiro's face flashed in my mind. I was paralyzed by fear... and my past.

The demon's hand left my rear end and I heard him take his pants down. I felt his hot member rubbing against my rosebud and clenched my jaw by instinct. I ended up biting Kurama's thigh in the process.

All of a sudden Kurama was gone from the chair as was the demon's dick. I opened my eyes and just kind of sat there staring at the empty chair. _How?_

Hiei was free from his confines as well. _What... just happened?_ I turned and watched as Hiei did in the big retarded demon. Kurama was standing over the ringleader watching him squirm around on the floor. _Get up fool. Get over it._ I stood and walked over to Kurama who gave me a quick glance and looked back towards the ringleader. I could only conclude that Kurama had already sliced off the bastard's penis based on his current fetal position.

"I'm sorry," Kurama tried but I cut him off.

"Not now," I heard myself hiss. I wasn't in control of myself. I was in an autopilot of sorts. One I was used to falling into back when I was still serving Tatsuhiro.

The demon finally stood trying to seek revenge. My fist slammed into his face so hard I had to shake it out. That was all I wanted. I turned and started back for the door. I heard Kurama finish him off with his rosewhip and try to catch up with me. "Rhea!"

I involuntarily flinched, "Don't," was all I could manage to say. It came out so coldly that I nearly felt the room temperature drop. I ripped off what was left of my undergarments and tossed them to the side and continued walking. I passed Botan who was still waiting outside in the tunnel.

"Rhea," she began.

"Let her go," I heard Kurama stop Botan from somewhere behind me.

I walked home in a weird daze. I couldn't decide if I wanted to remain in my reverted nature or to try and break through it and actually feel something... anything. I was too scared of the possible outcomes of either to even want to think about it. I eventually found myself curling up in my blankets in my bed and leaning my head against the wall while cradling myself.

* * *

 **A/N: Yay! Look! I'm writing! AND posting! XD Sorry this one was a little short. The next one probably will be as well. Just didn't want to smush them together. I didn't want you to hate me for toooo many reasons at once XP**

 **THANK YOU Wings of Wax, nerdypeach, Just 2 Dream of You, NightlyRowenTree, LadyAmazon, and Booom BaBy FOR THE REVIEWS! Loves you guys :3**

 **AND HEY YOU! I see you! Please review. I won't lie, I'm a review whore just like most everyone else but they actually do help :)**


	4. Chapter 4

I hadn't realized how long I sat there staring at the wall. I watched it turn from an egg white to grey and then black as the sun set. A tinge of orange glowed around the window illuminated by the street lights outside. _What am I doing?_ I hadn't moved in several hours, not even to brush back my long and mangled black hair that had fallen over my face. _How fucking humiliating…_ I hated myself for not being able to do anything. I couldn't remember the last time I shut down like this. _It'll happen again… and I probably won't be saved next time…_ I couldn't figure out if I wanted to break down and cry or lash out and punch something until I couldn't feel my hands anymore. _But why? Why this time? This one time I was saved… and I'm being a little bitch about it…_

There was a soft knock on my bedroom door and after a second Kurama opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door quietly behind him.

I looked over at him from the corner of my eye, "I thought I told you to leave me alone." That was the autopilot talking.

He gave me a sad sort of smile, "My apologies for misunderstanding. All I heard was 'not now' and 'don't'."

I looked back towards the wall. I didn't have anything to say. If I was able to turn him away he wouldn't have bothered coming in the first place.

He sat on the edge of the bed and set a bag down next to him, "You're injured. At least let me mend them."

I turned my head to look at him. After a moment I gave in and crawled over to where he sat and stuck out my right arm. It had numerous small cuts and scrapes from being thrown into crates and walls.

Kurama quickly went to work on my arm in silence. I looked him over. He had already healed all of his own injuries and had washed up as if nothing had happened at all. I found a small blood stain on his thigh where I had bitten him. "Why didn't you heal that?" I heard myself ask quietly.

"Seemed like a good conversation starter," he mused gently. "Plus, I think it's kind of kinky," he added with his usual perverted tones.

I shot him a glare that quickly took his smirk away. "How did you find the energy to break free? You both seemed pretty done in to me."

"I've been a bit curious about that as well. I was about to lose consciousness when you found us. But, when you bit down on me I knew I couldn't let _it_ happen," he admitted. He released my arm and I stretched out the other one that looked just as bad as the first. Kurama gracefully continued his work.

"Thank you," I finally choked out.

"Please don't thank me, I should have been able to move sooner than I did," Kurama replied morosely. He finished with my arm and released it. "Legs," he demanded quietly.

I stared at him for a moment wanting to respond but there was nothing to say. I sighed and swung my legs around and onto his lap lazily. There was really no other comfortable position with both of us on my twin sized bed that was shoved into the corner of my bedroom. He began at my ankles and slowly worked his way around my legs. The injuries on my legs were more severe than my arms, a few deep gashes were still slowly oozing blood.

I sighed and supported my weight with my left arm behind me.

"What is it?" He was asking about the sigh I had just given.

"Nothing," I replied dryly.

"It's not healthy to keep everything bottled up like you do."

"I could say the same for you."

"Rhea," he warned.

"I just feel humiliated, okay?" I finally snapped. He didn't respond but he gave me something like an encouraging look. "I don't know," I sighed again, "It's not like that was my first go around the block, but for some reason I just can't get over it this time."

"You mean," Kurama tried but I cut him off.

"Tatsuhiro stole my virginity when I turned fourteen," I admitted gritting my teeth as Kurama healed a deep gash in my calf. I looked down to watch his handy work. "Then he threw me to his goons. I don't even know how many of them defiled me. I was in and out of consciousness the whole time. Every time I tried to open my eyes I saw another face." He was silent, no longer looking at me but focusing on the cuts in my legs. "Then there was this whore Tatsuhiro fancied and he'd send her to molest me regularly. He said it was a good method to keep me under control."

There was a long silence. When I finally looked back up at him he was quite genuinely shocked. "I... had no idea," was all he could say. That look on his face nearly made me laugh. _Wow... is what I said really so horrible it shocked a demon into silence?_

"It's fine. I was bedridden for almost an entire week and I still handled it better than I am right now," I finally replied and looked back down as he continued healing my legs. Now there was only one wound left on the inside of my right thigh. He hesitated for a moment.

"Go for it," I granted knowing after what had just happened he was hesitant towards such a delicate area.

He quietly slipped his hand over the oozing gash and began healing it. It made me emotionally uncomfortable for just a moment, but as the pain started to vanish, so did my worries. _He's not going to do anything to you. Relax._

When he had finished he quickly removed his hands and placed them on his lap. I could tell he wanted to say something to comfort me, but that would be a very difficult feat even for him. The silence. It's always the silence that gets to me. I wanted to say something to reassure him that I'd be ok; that I'd figure it all out myself. Eventually.

Then it happened. My vision blurred as tears swelled in my eyes. Somehow the autopilot lost control and vanished. There was nothing to hide behind. I was completely vulnerable. _Why? Why is it like this? What happened to me?_ Kurama gently pulled me into his side and held me. Only then did the tears break their seam and stream down my cheeks. They stung my face with their salty heat. I was so foreign to them it took me by surprise for just a moment; that light stinging reminding me of a different type of pain.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and dug my face into his chest. I wanted it to stop, but at the same time I didn't. I wanted to completely expel this weighted feeling. It grew heavier with each tear that fell. My chest felt like it was going to implode. This only made the tears come faster and more violently. I hadn't noticed I had been shaking until Kurama tightened his grip around me.

I winced from a physical pain I hadn't realized needed attention. He pulled away. "Your ribcage is fractured."

I wiped away the liquid from my left eye to better see. Without consciously thinking about it I had started to calm down and get a hold of myself. I couldn't bring myself to respond though.

Kurama gently reached up and dried my other eye before I could get to it. "Let me take a look at it please."

It was strange. The weight had disappeared and I felt far more calm than I thought I would have.

And then an idea occurred to me. I couldn't decide if I was becoming ADHD or if I just desperately wanted to push away my current thoughts. I nodded at him and thought it over one more time. _Yes, the perfect distraction from my self pity._ The idea made me want to give in to an evil grin but that would have ruined the moment.

I quietly shifted my weight and swung my leg over Kurama's lap and plopped down on top of him. "R-rhea?" he questioned taken aback. It was so hard to keep up the act, I couldn't wait. I lifted the side of my shirt to expose my ribcage stopping just before my bra was revealed. "What are you doing?" he asked cautiously trying to withhold himself.

"You said you wanted to look at it," I responded dryly.

"Yes but…" his face flushed just a little, "You're not wearing any underwear…"

 _Success!_ I couldn't hold it back any longer. I busted out laughing, "I win," that evil smirk consuming my face. "Look how flustered you are! I thought it would have been a lot harder to get back at you for all those perverted remarks."

"That's just wrong," he deadpanned at me. I laughed again. "Please stop laughing at least," he pleaded with a certain type of tone.

I stopped as I thought about it for a second. Which just made me want to laugh even more but I bit it back. "So are you going to heal me?" I reminded him. He quickly and quietly picked up his little vile and slapped his hand on my ribcage and began healing my cracked ribs. I winced in pain but I guess I deserved it.

And then there was silence again. My little joke kind of snapped me out of whatever the fuck kind of mood I was in but I could quickly feel myself falling back into it.

"Rhea," Kurama spoke softly after a moment, still focusing on healing my ribs. "You know I would never do anything like that to you, right?"

I looked down at him. I wanted to be surprised but I knew he could always guess what I had been thinking. "I guess," I replied halfheartedly. "well," I attempted, "I won't lie. I've worried about it from time to time. More so when I first met you."

"I thought so," he admitted back. "It honestly hadn't occurred to me until today that you might feel that way." I looked down at him. He never wavered from healing my ribs though. "I thought maybe telling you how I felt about it might ease your worries."

"And how do you feel about it?" I asked bluntly.

"It's disgusting," he stopped and looked up at me this time. I couldn't read the emotions in his eyes though. "Demons are often labeled as rapists, but no more of them do so than humans." he stopped, debating what to say next.

"I figured that much," I replied trying to reassure him. He looked like he was having some kind of internal battle. "Whatever it is you're debating on saying, you should just say it."

He put his hands down beside himself and his eyes shifty slightly away from mine, just enough to break eye contact. "It's difficult for me to talk about my past," he admitted. I watched him carefully while he paused again. "I have… raped a girl… once. I didn't want to, but," he trailed off again.

His confession was not the shocking part. Him admitting something about his past in general was the shocking part. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know any more of this story. But when as I studied him, I realized he loathed himself for it. Maybe he needed to tell someone.

"I originally grew up in a clan of fox demons that pillaged many towns. My father was their leader of sorts," he decided to scratch his original confession and start over I was assuming. "It was a right of passage for the boys. I dreaded it. I had seen it happen so often, I didn't realize it was immoral. I grew up thinking there was something wrong with me for not wanting to partake. But if I hadn't, I wouldn't have taken my father's position when he died. I would have been shunned from the clan." He was starting to shake from either guilt or anger. Or both. I could clearly hear the guilt in his voice. "I ended up killing her in the process. I can still see her face when I think about it."

Any normal person would have backed away cautiously at this point I assume. I thought for a moment that I should be afraid, but I wasn't. In fact, I was the opposite. Watching him fight with himself just to talk about what he had done so long ago made me want to reach out. He was trying desperately to keep himself calm but I could feel him shaking violently. The look in his eyes was the darkest I had seen him wear yet. He wasn't trying to hide his emotions at all; his self loathing and regret consumed him. He sat there quiet once more.

I reached around and pulled his head into a tight hug, my hair falling around my arms, my face buried into his neck. He didn't respond for a long while but his shaking slowly faded away. Eventually his hands found their way around my back as he returned the hug. "You know, for a bad guy you're pretty lame."

He stifled a laugh into my collarbone, "Yes, I suppose so."

I released him and leaned back to look at him, "Ok, personally I'm over this touchy-feely shit." And I shoved him back onto the bed and stood up and walked to the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd really like a shower."

Kurama let go of a small chuckle and shook his head, "Your rebound time is something to be admired."

"It works for me," I replied loosely with a shrug.

He stood up and grabbed his bag, "So, what I told you about my past… It doesn't…?" _I really wish I had a camera to capture this whole situation. I've made Kurama blush, stutter, and find himself at a loss of words all in just a few minutes! Why can't I figure out how to do this more often?_

"It doesn't phase me," I finished for him. "We all have skeletons in our closets. It's not your words that convinced me; it was how you handled saying them that makes me trust you."

He gave me a small yet genuine smile, which looked a little odd because I could see that he was still angry with himself through his eyes. "Well at least I accomplished what I intended to. I think you're the first person to know about that since I killed my father."

"Wait-" _Skkrt!_ "What?"

He gave me a slightly more evil grin, "You didn't think I'd let someone pressure me into doing something I had no desire to do and get away with it, did you?"

I straight facepalmed, "I think that's a conversation for a different time."

"Agreed."

* * *

 **A/N: I know, I'm a horribe person. For so many reasons. But heeeeyyy, look at the bright side, you now have another chapter. Not gonna lie, totally had to reread chapter 3 because I forgot what I had written and walked up to my roommate and said "JESUS FUCK I AM A HORRIBLE PERSON! WHY THE HELL WOULD I WRITE SOMETHING LIKE THIS?!" and then erupted into uncontrollable laughter. Answer: because I can. mwahahahahahaha!**

 **There's something wrong with me XD**

 **THANK YOU Wings of Wax, NightlyRowenTree, Booom BaBy, LadyAmazon, and Just 2 Dream of You for the lovely reviews!**

 **And THANK YOU ninja enchantress, ryu-f, Roocklaarts, Aerishime, and Silent Midnight Shadow for the follows! Would like to hear what you think of my insane little world here. XP**

 **AND TO ALL OF YOU: REVIEW DAMMIT OR I WILL START THROWING Just 2 Dream of You's INSPIRATION BUNNIES AT YOU! AND TRUST ME, YOU DON'T WANT THAT!**

 **I joke, i joke. I wouldn't wish that upon anyone, they might get injured. I really appreciate the reviews though. Not only because I am a whore for them, but because they give me great feedback and inspiration to keep writing. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS! O.O I KNOW I'M LATE LEAVE ME ALONE! XD**

 **Figured I'd be nice to you guys and write something more... light hearted... yeah that one.**

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It was cold. Miserably cold. I hated the cold. "Fuckin' bastard," I grumbled to myself as I stretched out for our training today. "And here I was thinking that I was the one running late." I took my precious time to change from that useless schoolgirl uniform into sweatpants and a sweater. "Where the fuck is he?"

After a few more minutes of me bitching to myself, Kurama finally sauntered up, "Good afternoon."

"Where the hell have you been?" I growled as I stretched out my left leg.

"The usual; being harassed by my admirers," he joked.

"Did they kidnap you or something?"

"I think they might have tried."

"Damn, I should have stayed to watch."

"Very funny," Kurama replied sarcastically. He remained standing by the log with his bookbag over his shoulder.

"Are we training or are you just gonna stand there and stare?"

"Actually, I was wondering...well…" He tried.

"Being at a loss for words is very out of character for you, dude," I interrupted.

Kurama sighed and prepared himself, "Will you please help me study for my literature final?" His shoulders relaxed after a moment.

I stared at him for a minute. Then I keeled over laughing, "Are you serious?! You want _me_ to help _you_ _ **study**_?"

"Is that so hard to believe?" He asked taken aback.

"Yes!" I was at the brink of tears I was laughing so hard.

"Are you quite done?" he asked after a moment with a shorter tone.

I took a deep breath to try and stop the bouts of laughter, "I can try to be."

"The truth is, your English and literature scores are the highest in the entire school," he admitted. "I need to do better in those subjects in order to stay at the top of the class."

"Because a ninety-six isn't good enough, huh?" I joked.

"I made a ninety-two last semester actually," he corrected, "Plus there's this nerd who's always trying to beat my scores and it's quite fulfilling to watch him grieve when I surpass him."

"Oh, god," I sighed and grabbed up my bag. "I guess I'd believe that more than anything else anyways."

"Great," Kurama gave a small grin and we headed out of the park and towards my apartment.

I tossed my bag into my room and grabbed a book from my desk. "So what exactly are you having trouble with?"

"I lose the most points in the essay portion of the test. I have a copy of last year's essay," he answered as he set down his own bag and pulled out the paper. I skimmed through it, focusing on the marks.

"Well the good news is they're easy mistakes," I deducted as I handed him back the paper. "You're writing like you would speak. You can't put a preposition at the end of a sentence. You got marked down three times for that."

"A preposition can't be used at the end of a sentence?" he repeated back, looking slightly confused.

Ok, can I just stop for a minute and reiterate the fact that I knew more about something than Kurama did? This was fucking priceless. Half of me wanted to be serious and get this shit over with. The other half of me wanted to bust out laughing and relish in the moment.

"Yeah, words like 'above' and 'before'," I tried to explain. "Words that describe a position or time."

Kurama studied his paper in silence trying to make sense of it. I went back to my room and grabbed a book from my desk. "Here," I flipped through the grammar book to the prepositions chapter. "Read this. It should help way more than any school issued text."

"I'm impressed," Kurama admitted.

"How?" I asked quickly, not sure what the hell he had been expecting.

"Not only do you seem to actually study every once and awhile, but you actually took the time to go buy a book about grammar on your own," he explained simply.

"Fuck you," I deadpanned.

Kurama stifled a laugh and sat down at the coffee table to read the book.

I picked up my own book and sat on the floor and leaned against the coffee table using it as an armrest. The one time silence didn't really bother me was when I was studying. I figured since Kurama was wasting my time with finals, I should follow suit. It's not like rocking out to Metallica while cleaning would have made a better environment anyways. Plus, no one wants to see me play air guitar.

We sat in silence studying our respective subjects for a while. It was a nice change of pace to be honest. At least until my sister and father came crashing in the door.

"Rhea! Look what we got!" Neima shouted excitedly. I put my book down and took in a deep breath preparing myself as I turned my head. My dad was struggling to get this massive tree through the door.

"What the hell?" I grimaced. Kurama remained silent.

"We're having Christmas this year!" Neima shouted with joy as she threw bags filled with lights and decorations onto the coffee table. Dad propped the tree up in the corner of the living room between the television set and the sliding glass door that led to our little ass balcony.

"Since when did we start celebrating Christmas?" I asked a little more than annoyed.

"I know it's been a few years since we've celebrated properly, but it's never too late to start again," my dad tried to fend off what he knew was already coming to him.

" _A few_?" I tried not to growl back as I stood up. "Dad, we haven't _really_ celebrated Christmas since mom left. Neima was still too young to even remember what it was like." I corrected harshy.

"Well all the more reason then," my father replied quickly.

"We don't even have the money for all this shit. You still have an ass load of debt to pay off to credit card companies and bills to catch up on." I could feel the anger rising in my voice but I couldn't stop it, even if I tried.

"Why don't you let me be the one to worry about all that," my father bit back still nowhere near as hostile as I was being. He was well prepared for this conversation, I must admit. "Besides, I'm getting a raise next month and the boss just gave me a really nice Christmas bonus."

I huffed still not convinced that it was a good idea. "There's no talking you out of this so I'm just going to study in my room." I grabbed my book and marched to my bedroom.

Poor Kurama sat silent as the grave on the couch watching patiently. I had basically forgotten that he was there. After a minute he knocked on my door and let himself in. "Does that mean I should leave?" he asked almost timidly.

"Sorry, that was rude of me," I offered as I flopped down on the edge of my bed.

"It happens," he shrugged off. "So what really bothers you about the whole Christmas thing?" he dared to delve.

I glared up at him, I knew what he was trying to do. "My mom left us right before Christmas. I want nothing to do with gingerbread houses and decorating trees. It just reminds me of when I found my dad crying over some burnt dessert and him telling me that my mother wasn't coming back." I sighed, "he just hasn't been right since then."

"I see," Kurama responded after a moment and thought over what he would say next. He sat down next to me, "As I've come to understand it, Christmas is supposed to be a time when everyone tries to put themselves aside and do selfless acts; such as donating money to charities and putting on fake smiles for in-laws."

"I know," I sighed. "It's just still really strange to me. Especially this. My father used to not even know what day of the week it was, let alone have half the mind to do anything at all for the holidays. Just a few months ago I was more concerned about how we were gonna eat that night. Now there's a goddamn tree in our living room, and it's not because my father is doped up."

He glanced over to me and I glanced back. "Don't think you're getting out of this," I gave in admitting he had won, but I'd be damned if I didn't drag him down with me. He's the one who talked me into it in the first place.

"Out of what?" he asked innocently enough.

"You're helping too," I stood up and opened the door for him.

"If I weren't already in earshot of your father, I think I'd swear at you right now," he whispered as he stepped back into the living room.

I grinned pleased with myself for including him in the torture we were about to endure. "Oh god, Neima has tinsil. That looks like a good place for you to start," I nudged him and then walked over to my father who was sitting on the couch staring at an old ornament that looked familiar. I looked down at the star shaped glittery ornament with a picture of our family the year my mother left. He obviously hadn't pulled it out since that year. "Here," I took the ornament from him and went back to my room. I found a picture of the three of us that was taken last year and cut it out to fit inside and slid it on top of the old picture. I then returned it to my father. "Figured if we were trying to start having some family fun around here, then we shouldn't dwell on the past."

My father looked up at me with something like pride in his eyes, "I agree completely. How did I end up with two daughters that keep my shit together for me?"

"I wonder that sometimes too," I joked. My father went over to the other ornaments and I looked up.

Yes, I looked up. And what I saw was the most hilarious shit ever. Kurama had picked up Neima so she could cover the top of the tree with tinsel, but the tinsel was no longer in Neima's hand. The silver tinsel was in fact all over Kurama's head. How? I have no idea. But it was marvelous. He was trying desperately not to react as he set Neima back down.

"I'm sorry," Neima giggled.

I nearly died. Literally. I nearly hit my head on the corner of the coffee table as I keeled over laughing. I laughed so hard tears were streaming down my face. I laughed for so long I was gasping for air as I tried to crack a joke. "Hey, I think your true colors are showing dude," and I sent myself back into a fit of laughter.

Kurama probably wanted to slice my throat in that moment. But he remained calm and did his best to ignore me.

"I don't get it," Neima commented.

"Is that supposed to be a gay joke?" my father tried.

Yeah, Kurama was probably almost at his breaking point, which only I could tell from the tinge of blood lust in his eyes. It just made me laugh even harder.

I finally calmed myself down after a while and got back up off the floor to help finish hanging the ornaments that my father and sister had started while Kurama fought with the tinsel. After the tree was said and done with, Kurama and I went back to studying in my room while my father started cooking. Somehow my father had gotten Kurama to agree to stay for dinner. Neither of us were too stoked about it, but I think Kurama was the one that said something about saving face during the holidays earlier. It would have been a shame if he had gone back on his own word.

I still couldn't get over the tinsel incident. There were strands of it still weaved throughout his hair.

"Rhea," Kurama cleared his throat.

"Yeah?" I snapped out of my stream of consciousness long enough to acknowledge him.

"Can words such as 'concerning' be used as prepositions as well?" he was actually trying to study.

"Uh, yeah," I was still staring at this one strand of tinsel poking out of his head. "Can I-"

"Please," Kurama gave me this look that meant to say, "I'm still relatively calm but if you keep staring and giggling at my hair, I might snap."

I bit my lip desperately trying not to laugh again as I crawled over to him and started plucking at his hair. It was surprisingly soft, I must say, and not anywhere near as knotted up as it looked. It was just oddly curly. Usually hair works the other way around with the curls at the end and straighter near the scalp. But then again there were a lot of totally-not-normal aspects to this guy. And how in the hell did he end up with red hair in the first place?! I decided not to mention any of these thoughts to him aloud given the delicate situation.

I nearly had an entire handful by the time I was done. I never found any of his plant-like weapons though. _Damn! I swear that's where he pulls them from! What the hell?!_ "Here ya go," I plopped my handful of tinsel onto his lap.

"Thank you," he deadpanned and put the tinsel in the small trash can next to my desk. He went back to studying his notes and the book I had given him.

I tried to do the same but for some reason I just couldn't focus on my book. Now that there were no more hysterical distractions I started focusing on my own mental state. It was unsettling, of that I was sure. But I couldn't really put any terms to the feeling I was experiencing. _Have I felt this way before?_ It was starting to frustrate me.

I must have sighed because Kurama stopped and started to study me for a second. "What is it?"

"What?" I asked not letting my eyes leave the page I had read at least three times over now.

"You seem as if something is bothering you," he pointed out.

I gave up on the book again and closed it. "I don't even know. Maybe I'm PMSing or something," I tried to wave it off.

"That was your excuse last week," he reminded me with a raised eyebrow.

"You're supposed to accept that excuse at all times," I retorted.

He looked like he wanted to laugh. "Yes, if I were _normal_ I suppose so," he tapped his nose with a smirk.

"That's just straight cheating," I bit back.

He openly laughed that time but quickly returned to his usual state of being. He flashed me a look that meant he was still asking his question but had no desire to repeat himself.

I leaned back against the wall thinking about how to phrase it. "I guess-"

"Dinner's ready!" my father burst through the door. _Dad, if there were ever a time I was alright with you throwing yourself into my room shouting, it would be now._

Dinner was thankfully uneventful. My father took the time to do normal fatherly duties like interrogating the fuck out of Kurama. He asked everything from his birthday to whether he preferred boxers or briefs. In case you haven't already caught on, my father has no filter. The answer was boxers, by the way.

My father and sister took up the dishes and returned with dessert. That was actually a very nice surprise. Lemon bars! My favorite overly sweetening secret guilty pleasure. My father had said something when they sat back down that distracted Kurama for a moment. I wasn't paying a lick of attention. I was too busy being in love with my plate. When Kurama looked back my way he looked very confused. "What?"

"Did you just eat that entire piece of dessert?" Kurama asked bluntly surprised.

I looked down at my plate. "Oh, it's gone… this is sad…"

"Careful with that one, Shuichi," my father warned jokingly. "If you look away too long, she'll eat yours too." I almost retorted, but stopped. He was right. I totally would.

"Good to know," Kurama eyed me cautiously as he took a bite of his own piece.

My father refused to let me do the dishes afterwards and instead poured all four of us a glass of eggnog and sent me out to hang lights on the railing of the balcony while he got Neima ready for bed. I hung the lights quickly enough and plugged them in then went back to leaning on the railing next to Kurama. We didn't say anything as we stared out over the roofs of the nearby buildings.

It was only a few minutes before my father decided to join us on the balcony. "See, today wasn't so bad was it?" he asked as he poured something into his glass.

"I guess not," I replied automatically without thinking about it.

My father poured something into Kurama's glass, "Well from where I was standing, I hadn't seen you laugh like that in a very long time."

"Oh, the tinsel incident was fantastic," I smirked and turned to face him and he started pouring bourbon into my glass. "Dad, what the hell?" _I should have known._

"What?" he asked innocently.

"You just poured a triple shot of bourbon into my drink," I deadpanned.

"Did I?" he acted oblivious. "Oh well, I won't tell if you won't." He shrugged and went back inside and started doing dishes while smirking at himself.

I just stared at him mentally shaking my head. "Did he pour that much into yours too?"

"Three-fourths of my glass is now alcohol," Kurama blatantly admitted.

"Oh," I responded amused and turned back to look into the night air. "Now the question is, how much did he pour himself."

"Just a little," Kurama answered the rhetorical question. "But he does have the handle."

"Ah, he'll be out cold in no time then," I reassured myself aloud.

We stood in silence for a long while listening to the sounds of the city. My drink was more than half gone before that feeling from earlier came back. Only this time it was inebriated. I found myself staring at Kurama's hands that held his glass over the balcony as he rested his forearms on the railing. He was drinking his concoction more slowly for obvious reasons. My eyes kept wanting to wander but I kept them on his hands, hoping he wouldn't notice.

And then it hit me. It was like a fucking train wreck. I wanted to feel those hands. I wanted to be held in those arms. Not only was I thrown off guard by the fact that I _wanted_ someone to touch me at all; but of all people! And not only that, I was glad he was standing next to me. I wasn't alone, and I didn't want to be. _What the fuck is happening to me? How did I get like this?_ I didn't yearn to be near anyone, and I didn't want to. But I was. And the fact that I was having this odd revelation right next to him made it all the more intense. If I had drank as much alcohol as Kurama had at this point, I probably would a said something ridiculously stupid.

But there was still something else stirring around inside of me that I couldn't figure out. It made me extremely uncomfortable. My only guess made me cringe. I really hoped I was wrong. The more I thought about it, the more likely it seemed. _What the hell am I supposed to do with this?_

"Rhea," Kurama broke the silence.

"Yeah?" I looked up at him trying to shake off my train of thought.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked it so nonchalantly.

"Why?" I didn't mean to sound as defensive as it came out.

"Your heart rate jumped up," he pointed out.

"It was a stupid thought. I just got mad at myself for thinking it," I attempted to explain without actually giving away anything.

Kurama thought on my words before responding. He chose his words so carefully he made it seem like he was inquiring about something completely different than what he was actually after. "Have I done something to upset you?"

"No, it's kind of the opposite actually," I replied missing the true intentions of his question entirely and fucking myself over. _Fuck… I blame the eggnog._

He looked at me curiously waiting for an explanation we both knew I wasn't getting away without saying.

I looked back out into the night trying to get out of it but I failed miserably and gave in. "I'm just really lucky to have met you." _Please let that be sufficient._

Kurama remained silent for a while trying to dissect the response. I thought about coming up with some bullshit he already knew like him wiping out the mafia, brainwashing my father into being a functioning adult again, saving my life several times, etcetera etcetera… but before I had made up my mind he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled my into his side. It threw me off guard entirely. It was like fate was being cruel of a different kind. Instead of making my life a living hell it was giving me what I secretly wanted so it could sit back and laugh at how I couldn't handle it.

I could feel my heart rate starting to rise again and fought desperately to keep it down. Kurama didn't react to it this time. He just continued holding me against him as he took another sip of his eggnog.

This emotional battle was taking its tole on me. I didn't even want to bother fighting it anymore. I leaned my head against his shoulder and decided to accept what was happening to me. I was falling in love with this insane, suicidal fox demon.

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 **A/N: You're either laughing your ass off right now or very confused as to why there's no tragic/traumatizing event. Well, since it's the holidays I figured I'd be nice to you guys and write some more... fluffy-like stuffz for you cause you guys ask for it all the time. SO! My roommate and I were chit chattin it up last night while I was at work. she thought the shit coming out of my mouth was worthy of being posted here for all to read:**

 **Moral theme of this chapter: Nice change of pace.**

 **Moral of the STORY: Don't let Kurama play with tinsel.**

 **Also: I literally just shat a whole bunch of shit out of my ass for this. I BET YOU CAN'T COME UP WITH ANOTHER SENTENCE LIKE THAT ONE!**

 **I accept wonderful presents in the spirit of the holidays via Reviews. AKA REVIEW PLEASE AND THANK YOU AND MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY HOLIDAYS/NEW YEARS WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT**

 **All of those who do not review will no longer be on my nice list. And I shall bribe Santa to shove coal up your ass next year. and you will be like "WTF SANTA?!" and Santa is gonna be like "REMEMBER THAT TIME YOU DIDN'T REVIEW THAT ONE FANFICTION?! THIS IS WHAT YOU'RE GETTING FOR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR BECAUSE THAT AUTHOR PAID ME AN ASS LOAD OF MONEY TO DO SO! And I think it's funny."**

 **LOVE YOU GUYS!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I know. I know. It's been far too long... I'm sorry. I had horrible writer's block. and my ex left me. and I got together with this other person whom I'm living with now. I had to move. and got a different job, then went back to the old job, then told the boss man to shove it where the sun don't shine and now at a new job. Figured out how to adult and shit. But anyways. I broke through my writer's block today. YAY.  
**

 **So, without further adieu... Chapter 6 of On the Other Side: Apanthropinization**

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 _His fingers gently trailed down my spine as he pulled me closer into his embrace. I was mesmerized by those emerald green eyes as he leaned in_ -

I jolted up out of bed. "What in the actual _fuck_ ," I grimaced and rubbed my face to make sure I was actually awake.

Kurama had upped our training since we didn't have anything better to do during our winter break. I had plopped down on my bed when I got home and apparently fell asleep. I groaned as I read 11:47 pm on the clock sitting on my desk that glowed green in my darkened room. "Jack asses didn't even wake me up for dinner." I rolled off the bed and grabbed the bathrobe my mother had sent me for Christmas. That's right; the bitch didn't even have the decency to visit my little sister and me for the holidays.

I jumped in the shower and started scrubbing the dirt and sweat from training off of my body. Steam quickly filled the little bathroom, and the tad-bit-too-hot water was already working out the soreness from exercising.

 _His rippling arms wrapped themselves around me, consuming me in the most unexpected comfort._ I sighed and leaned my head against the cool tile of the shower trying to shake off the image from the dream.

"Seriously, Rhea, snap the fuck out of it," I growled to myself. "What the hell is wrong with me?"

I couldn't shake that feeling, though. The whole thing was starting to really piss me off. I pushed off the wall to stand back up straight but ended up slipping and falling right on my ass. "Fuck me," I grumbled and leaned my head back trying to ignore the new pain shooting up my spine. _Guess I deserve it for being such a fucking idiot…_

A wave of fatigue hit me like I hadn't felt in a while. _Maybe I slept for too long…_

* * *

I blinked awake, still slumped over in the bathtub. The water spitting out of the shower head was ice cold at this point. _Ok, seriously, what the hell?_ I thought as I realized I had fallen back asleep in the shower. But then my body moved, and I was not prepared for it. I stood up, trying to find my balance for a second before I moved out of the shower and found myself in the mirror over the vanity.

It was super creepy. I hadn't even thought about moving; it was like an autopilot mode I had never felt before. Usually when I felt like this it was a defense mechanism, but this was way different. I didn't feel connected to my body at all.

A smirk appeared across my face. It scared the ever living shit out of me. _Holy fuck, did I finally snap for good?_

"Well _hello_ there."

The voice was my own. But the tone was most certainly not. I've gone and jumped off the goddamn deep end.

Chuckles escaped my lips as I continued staring at myself in the mirror, "Not quite, dear."

 _Ok… what the fuck kind of drug am I on?_

"Nothing, I just took over your body," I apparently started giggling at myself. "Ooh! Look at these," my hands came up and pinched my nipples, "and this!" I turned and slapped myself on the ass. "Your body is even hotter when I'm inside of it."

 _And now I'm hitting on myself…_

"Relax," my own voice was trying to calm me. "I'll give it back when I've gotten what I'm after. Ah, this looks comfy." My body started putting on the white silk robe that stopped just before my knees. I could feel the silky fabric slide up my arms and swoosh against the back of my thighs. "All set," I heard myself say and walked out of the bathroom and stood in the middle of the dark apartment. I was desperately trying to stop my body from moving around, but that was completely useless.

 _Ok… so, something has taken control of my fucking body…_

"Some _one_ , thank you very much."

 _Whatever!_

"Off we go then," and my body went for the front door.

 _Whoa! Hold on! At least get dressed first!_

"I _am_ dressed," whoever the fuck had taken over my body replied easily and opened the door to the hallway.

 _For fuck's sake! It's raining! The damn thing will be completely see-through!_

"Even better!" _it_ replied and continued on their way.

 _I'm burning that thing…_ I mentally deadpanned. _Where the fuck are we going anyways?_

"To the demon's house...what's his name again?"

 _For the love of god-it better not be Kurama…_

"That's the one! I want him," and this lunatic starts making my body run down the street in pouring down rain.

' _Want'? What the hell does that mean? What the fuck are you?_

They started chuckling a little more maliciously than I would have cared to hear come from my vocal chords. "I'm a spirit siren. I have to take over bodies to consume other spirits. His just happens to look particularly delicious."

 _Greeeeaaaat... I doubt it will work._

I must have stopped paying attention because the next thing I knew I was across town and knocking on Kurama's front door.

 _Please don't answer. Please don't answer. Please don't-_

Kurama opened the door and blinked a couple of times while looking me up and down. _Fuck!_ He had been sleeping apparently; he was wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants, and his hair looked even messier than usual.

"Uh…" it looked like color was forming in his cheeks. "Come in out of the rain," was all he could muster up as a greeting. My body moved through the doorway and into the house just enough to let Kurama close the door. He cleared his throat and tried but failed unapologetically to look away from my attire. I might as well have been naked. Water beaded down from every inch of my body pooling around my feet. The stupid little silk robe left absolutely nothing to the imagination.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" he finally blinked away his grogginess and made eye contact, an eyebrow raising in the process. The hint of a smirk was on his lips, ready to crack so many perverted jokes.

"I…" the damned spirit siren lost track of their momentum.

 _What? Now you're pussying out?!_

"I needed to talk to you about something," the spirit siren quickly threw out.

 _Let me guess, you didn't plan this far ahead, did you?_

Kurama looked me up and down one more time and then turned towards the staircase. "We will speak in my room. I'll find a towel for you," he offered and started up the stairs. My body followed quickly behind him. It closed the door to his bedroom behind them as Kurama disappeared into his bathroom and reemerged with a folded white towel. Before anything else could happen, the damned spirit siren threw my body onto his and planted a firm full-blown kiss on his lips.

 _Oh Jesus fucking Christ!_ I could feel him take a step back and gently put his hands on my hips to stop the momentum of our bodies, but not before it forced him to sit back on his bed to keep either of us from getting hurt.

All I wanted to do in this moment was turn around and run as fast as I could back to the other side of town. Instead, my body moved to straddle a very taken aback Kurama. I could feel his bulge between my thighs as the siren pressed my body closer to his, showing no sign of letting up on the kiss.

Kurama gently pulled his head back, finally breaking the kiss. He held my torso firmly in place so my body couldn't move in on him again. He studied my face for a second. "Rhea, what's all this about?" He was obviously trying to stay level headed. I just couldn't figure out if he was trying to fight down being flustered or annoyed.

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you don't want this," the siren challenged as it used my body weight to plant another kiss. The whole thing was like a wet dream gone horribly fucking wrong! I was mortified from what I was seeing unfold before me. And the worst part of it all- I could feel everything. I mean _everything_! I felt my lips pressed firmly into his, his soft breathing against my cheek, his fingers laced around my sides, my arms wrapped around his neck and getting tangled in his mess of hair, my thighs slightly tensed up around his hips, and… well… I'm sure I already mentioned that other little detail. We aren't going there again.

(A/N: yes I made you wait like a year and a half for this! And now I'm going to go vomit for forcing myself to write this. Oh GOD, this damn thing isn't even over yet… I thought the whole point of writing was to torture my characters, not me!)

The next thing I knew, Kurama had me pinned down on my back against the bed. He was hovering over me; his hair slowly slipping down off his shoulders around him. His grip was just a little too firm around my wrists to make sure that I really couldn't move this time. "Who are you, and what have you done to Rhea?" The pure anger in his growl sent a shiver down my spine.

 _Well it's about_ fucking _time!_

"I-I… I don't understand," the siren tried.

 _Busted, bitch!_

Kurama remained silent and still as he studied and glared down at me.

"So… you're not interested in me after all?" the siren tried to distract him once more.

 _You can just kill me now, Kurama… I can't listen to this bitch anymore..._

"Oh, trust me," Kurama's voice was cold and dark as his vines made their way around my legs and he brought my hands together as he tied them up. "I am very interested in what I can do to a spirit siren once it's extracted from my friend's body."

"Kinky," the spirit siren replied shortly, giving up the act.

Kurama ignored the remark as he scooped me up and rather quickly placed my body inside his bathtub. The vines started growing out and around the tub to ensure the spirit siren was made immobile as he turned the water on. The cold water spat out of the shower head, drenching my still thoroughly soaked little silk robe. The drain had popped down, causing the water to start to pool up around me in the tub. Kurama was gone for just a split second but returned with a few small vials that he started pouring into the water.

"As much as I love this romantic yet satanist gesture, how are we to elope if I can't spread my legs for you?" The siren went at it again.

I mentally deadpanned. _Please just kill me… I can't bear to hear myself say this shit anymore…_

Kurama sighed with something most definitely like annoyance as he studied his work. When he seemed to be in agreement with himself that his plan was laid out correctly, he turned back to look at me. He reached out and cuffed my chin forcing the spirit siren and me to make eye contact. "Rhea, I know you can hear me. I've done everything I can-"

"She can't do anything. Why don't you talk to me?" the siren interrupted.

"Be quiet, wench," Kurama snapped back darkly, clearly trying not to get pissed off. I could practically feel the spirit siren squirm a little. "Rhea," he tried once more, "this method I have set up is the only way to separate the siren from your body without physically harming you. You'll have to expel her through your own means, though." Kurama released my chin and sat back once more and left the bathroom.

 _Thanks… but I think I'd rather just die at this point…_

The siren started chuckling again, and I mentally cringed at the sound. "It's no use, you know," she started to taunt once more as Kurama came back with a rounded empty bottle. "The girl's practically petrified from all this." Kurama glared down at me - well the spirit siren probably - but did not respond.

They glared at each other in silence for a moment. The water continued to fall on my body and rise at the bottom of the tub. I could smell the liquid incense that Kurama had poured into the tub, but I couldn't identify the flowery smells. Kurama broke their staring contest and flipped down the lid of the toilet to sit and wait patiently.

 _Alright spirit siren bitch, time to leave now. You've had your fun… How the fuck am I supposed to get rid of you?_

"You know she's in love with you," the spirit siren spat out for a reaction to distract Kurama. He nearly fell for it too. He looked back at my face with much softer eyes this time but chose not to indulge the siren.

 _You did NOT just say that! What the fuck lady!_ She was right though. And I had to admit that to myself right then and there. The pain in my chest tightened as I did so. It was the first concrete connection I felt to my own body since the spirit siren had possessed it. If there was any way to get this bitch out of my body, that was the only clue I had to doing so.

A grunt came from my throat, controlled by the spirit siren. To me, that indicated that whatever the fuck I was trying to do, it was starting to work. _Fuck this… Fuck all of this…_ I mentally sighed and succumbed to the twisting and knotting pain in my chest. The last words the siren spoke resonated in my head. _She's in love with you… In love… with you… with Kurama… I am… fuck… how did this happen? I fell in love with this crazy, suicidal fox demon… and my stupid ass just admitted it aloud against my own fucking will… and he didn't even respond… dear god, this fucking hurts…_

* * *

I blinked a few times staring at the tile wall of the bathtub. The water was freezing cold; I mean, so cold that my nipples hurt type of cold. _Well fuck…_ I looked around to confirm that I was still tied up in Kurama's bathroom and not about to relive that horrible, horrible fucking nightmare. I tried to move, but the vines were still firmly holding my legs and arms down. I thought about yelling out to Kurama to untie me... But then I remembered what had just happened. _The siren told Kurama that I was in fact in love with him… and I gave in to it. I had already kissed him,_ twice _, and ground up against his junk, and none of it was even of my own free will!Why the fuck is this happening?_

Kurama came back into the bathroom in a much more calm manner than he had the past several times. "How are you feeling?" he asked without skipping a beat.

I stared at him for a moment before my insecurities buried themselves behind rage. "It's fucking freezing. You can at least untie me now," I hissed through clenched teeth. It was almost strange to be able to talk aloud again.

He just gave me a small smile as the vines started to unravel themselves. "Welcome back," he greeted in reply as he knelt down next to the tub and turned off the water. I tried to stand up but nearly fell over. Kurama easily caught my fall and sat me down on the closed lid of the toilet seat. "You should take it easy for a few minutes. You're still lightheaded from the oils in the water."

I just kind of nodded as he handed me another dry, white towel. I reached out to grab it and realized how weak I still felt from the whole ordeal. I just kind of pressed the towel to my chest in a half-assed attempt to cover myself up.

"I'll get you some dry clothes," he offered as he excused himself from the bathroom once more.

 _Crap… what the hell am I supposed to do now?_ I bent over and buried my face in the clean towel. _How fucking embarrassing… constantly… embarrassing myself…_

Kurama quietly placed a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt on the sink counter and closed the door leaving me alone. After a few minutes, I decided to get the fuck over myself and dried off and put on the not-see-through clothes. I took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, making sure I physically and mentally had my bearings back. I found a small bottle of bleach under the sink and grabbed it before exiting the bathroom back into Kurama's bedroom.

Kurama looked up at me from the now-filled round bottle on his desk. I came over and picked it up to look at it. I could see a cloudy image of woman-like sea creature swimming around inside the bottle. I opened the bottle and poured some bleach into it. Then I closed the bottle back up and shook it a few times.

"What are you doing?" Kurama jumped up in a lame attempt to stop me. But the damage had already been done. Now the ghost-like figure floated lifelessly in the small, rounded bottle.

"I promised I'd kill her," I shrugged apathetically.

Kurama shook his head trying not to be amused. "Well, there goes my plan of turning in valuable research on the elusive spirit siren to the Spirit World to cut down our sentences."

"I don't think I'll regret it," I shot back dryly before I made my way for the door to the hallway.

"Rhea." He waited to see if I'd stop and humor him.

I sighed and closed my eyes, dreading he'd say what I really didn't want to hear right then. "What?"

I could feel him studying my body language before he continued, "Was the siren telling the truth?"

I felt that knot in my chest start to bulge up again. _Yup… definitely what I was trying to avoid…_ "Does it matter?" I tried desperately to keep all of my emotions at bay.

He didn't respond this time, so I moved for the door again. His hand reached out and grabbed my wrist to stop me. His touch was much more gentle than when he was fighting off the siren. I could have easily gotten out of his grasp this time.

I sighed, that painful feeling blossoming in my chest again. "Yeah… It must be… otherwise, I probably wouldn't feel like this…" I took in another deep breath trying to control whatever ugly ass feeling was starting to consume me. "My next step is to get rid of it though, so just ignore it." I took my wrist back from him and started down the hall to the stairs.

About halfway down the flight of stairs, my wrist was taken up again, this time much more hastily. The force not only stopped me but pushed me up against the wall. Kurama's hand pinned my wrist to the plaster as his other hand slid up across my neck and jaw line, then back towards my ear as his fingers started to grip at my hair. The rest of his body melted against mine as he kissed me. I stood there completely shocked at his actions. His lips were clashing with mine with just the right amount of force and tenderness to make my knees weak. I didn't even realize how badly I wanted this until it happened. I gave in to him and eased up, making the simple little kiss even more compelling. I honestly could have stayed like that forever.

"Oh, thank God you're not gay!" Miss Minamino's voice gave a sigh of relief at the front door.

Kurama pulled back quickly and looked down confused at his mother and her boyfriend who had just gotten back from their date. "M-mother… What? Why are you just now getting home?" He was definitely blushing this time.

There were several things going through my head right then, "And on that note…" I bolted straight down the stairs, past Miss Minamino, out the door and just about all the way back to my apartment before I stopped and grabbed onto a street lamp to hold myself up.

 _Ok, so… let's go back over what just happened… a spirit siren possessed my body and tried to rape Kurama… I admitted to both myself and Kurama that I was in love with him… Kurama apparently really likes fucking with my head or actually feels the same… ish… or whatever… and his mom is now reassured that her son is not gay… And I got to witness Kurama flabbergasted again… Holy Fuck! What drugs did I take?!_

* * *

 **A/N: well that was painful... I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED MY LONG DRAWN OUT SUFFERING FOR YOUR MUSHY GUSHY SHIT see how much I love you guys... reviews pretty please and thank you!**

 **Also, shout out to Wings of Waxx. She has been beta editing my stuff for many years and is now going into free-lance editing. You can shoot her an email if you are interested. She does everything from fanfictions to college essays. And she is wonderful.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Haha! Told you I broke through my writer's block! BEHOLD! A chapter that explains why in the hell this thing is rated "M"**

 **(Side Note: for those of you who have been waiting patiently for this thing to start rolling again, I did post Chapter 6 last week but something was wrong with the site and it did not send out any emails for it.)**

* * *

"Rheeeaaaa!" Neima cried and banged against my bedroom door. I groaned and slowly shifted to open my eyes just enough to check the time that stared at me from my bedside table. 7:12 am. "Dad says you have to get up, school starts back today!"

"Fine," I finally sighed and sat up on the edge of my bed feeling like I pulled an all-nighter and had just lied down for a few minutes. _Jesus fuck… what a fucking nightmare…_ It wasn't a nightmare. I looked down and realized I was in fact wearing the shirt and jeans Kurama had lent me the night before. "Oh, fuck… _fuck_ …" I breathed out as I went over what had happened the night before for a second time.

 _About halfway down the flight of stairs, my wrist was taken up again, this time much more hastily. The force not only stopped me but pushed me up against the wall. Kurama's hand pinned my wrist to the plaster as his other hand slid up across my neck and jaw line, then back towards my ear as his fingers started to grip at my hair. The rest of his body melted against mine as he kissed me. I stood there completely shocked at his actions. His lips were clashing with mine with just the right amount of force and tenderness to make my knees weak. I didn't even realize how badly I wanted this until it happened._

"Shit…" I honestly didn't know what to think of it all. I knew I was ashamed of myself for letting my guard down and having a spirit siren posses me. I knew I was super pissed off that the bitch took my body and basically sexually assaulted both Kurama and myself. And then she made it even worse by telling Kurama I was fucking _in love with him_. What the fuck is that noise?! **And then he fucking** _ **kissed me**_ … I'm going to die. I can't handle this girlie flustered crap. Can I go back to being forced to sell drugs and killing people now _please_?!

"Fuuuck meee," I plopped back against the bed and covered my face with my arm. _And now I have to be back in school which means I'll be in an uncomfortably close proximity for him to deal out his shenanigans… He probably doesn't even like me. It's just another angle for him to torment me with…_

I got up, took a quick shower, and got dressed in all of about fifteen minutes. I reemerged from my bedroom with my bag over my shoulder. Dad was making breakfast and Neima was fiddling with her bag at the kitchen counter while waiting for food.

Dad stopped and looked back at me. "Well, that was quick. You ready for breakfast?"

I just kind of stared at him. This waking up for school and my dad actually being a responsible parent thing was still uneasy to me. I remembered, growing up, my dad was a beast in the kitchen. He was an all around chef, honestly. He always had food at the ready. So, in all honesty, this is the way he should have always been. I should be ecstatic. But watching my father go so far down the rabbit hole just fucked me up.

I just kind of gave my dad a smile in response. He was back to his old self because of what Kurama did to him. And my father had stayed his old self since. He even got a promotion in just a couple of months. All that just made me think about the fucking redhead again. I still didn't know why he even bothered to help me. I had been a complete stranger to him at the time. His actions still don't make any fucking sense to me. All I really knew about him was that he really enjoyed fucking around with people's heads and making fun of them in a way that usually made the victim think he was complimenting them.

So of course he would use the fact that I had feelings for him to breed some new way for him to get off screwing around with me head.

I ended up not saying anything to my father or sister and just simply walked out the door and headed for the school.

I mentally kicked myself the whole way there. _Why the fuck would Kurama do that? There's no way a fucking seven-hundred-or-whatever-year-old demon would actually have any interest in a stupid, weak ass, sixteen-year-old human. Unless he's into pedophilia… then I guess it would make total sense… and fuck me for falling for him in the first place! God dammit! My life is a big ball of fucked up shit…_

The walk to school wasn't too long, maybe about twenty-five minutes. I could see him waiting for me at the entrance about three blocks away. It was like he was putting out a vibe saying, "Come, let me make jokes at your expense. I have so many naughty things to say to ruffle your jimmies."

 _This bitch…_ I groaned when I saw him. With every step I took, I could feel that aching in my chest rising again. _Ok, so what is he actually going to say? Why the fuck is he waiting at the school entrance? Is he trying to grab the whole school's attention on this? I can skip the first day of the semester, right?_

I took a deep breath and let it out just before I was sure I was in his hearing range. _Just ignore him and walk into the building…_ I stopped at the crosswalk. He was definitely waiting for me on the other side of the road leaned gracefully against the brick wall of the school courtyard. He watched me calmly with the corners of his mouth turned up into a little grin. He definitely had a one-liner for the ages he couldn't wait to say. I inwardly groaned again. My face probably displayed a very unamused expression that meant to say, "I already know what you're about to say, and this is my facial response."

I looked both ways negligently before stepping out into the street.

Tires immediately started screeching as two limos peeled out from around the corners of both sides of the school block. I knew instantly that their target was me. There was no time to think, only react. I couldn't have made it to Kurama's side of the the street without getting hit. I couldn't turn back without getting hit.

This was planned. They knew where I was coming from. They knew where I went to school. They knew the path in which I walked to school. They had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. So long, in fact, I would have ventured to say they chose this particular morning because they had been studying me to the point where they could tell I was distracted. This was very well timed. I stopped right where the double yellow line should have run through the white stripes of the crosswalk. The two limos were screeching again, both back seat windows cracked down with guns pointed at me as they came to a halt, cutting me off.

My face was already in its stone cold, emotionless buffer. My heart rate was perfectly calm. The tightness in my chest from earlier thoughts had long since disappeared. _This is what I am used to_ _\- t_ _his calm in the face of death itself._

I glanced up over the car long enough to see that little smirk completely bitchslapped off of Kurama's face and replaced with his game face as well.

"Tatsuhiro's girl," the man in the back seat spoke while rolling down his window in front of me. That title sent horrible shivers down my spine.

"Depends. Who's asking?" I heard myself say as I looked back at the man dressed in a black suit and tie in the back of the car.

"I suggest you get in the car to continue this conversation or we will shoot every student in the vicinity," he threatened calmly as he opened the door and stood up, revealing an empty middle seat and another man with a gun still pointed at me.

I had to really think about that one. I watched as students rolled into the school courtyard, mostly in sets of two or three. Girls were giggling and gossiping. Guys were cackling and making crude jokes. Not a single student seemed to notice the two limos as they passed by. They didn't even look over. They looked so young. So naive. So innocent. They always looked that way. I hated every single one of them. But still, I didn't hate them enough to wish for any one of of their deaths. I told myself that they weren't the deciding factor as I got into the car. With my luck, I would have been blamed if, when the smoke cleared, there were dead students littering the entrance way and I was standing idling in the middle of the road. They would have all agreed that I was the one to have done it.

I glanced back to where Kurama had been standing just before I ducked down into the car. He had vanished. I didn't have any time to dwell on it, though. All four guys in the limo seemed exactly the same; slicked back dark brown hair, sunglasses, and black suits with black ties. The man in the passenger seat turned back towards me and held another gun at my face point-blank as the first one got back in the car. The door closed and the limo drove off. I noticed the other one turn around and follow closely.

"Alright, so what do you want?" I snapped at the guy who had initially addressed me and was now sitting to my left. The guy to my right was by far the biggest and strongest guy in the car. Like I stated earlier, they had this whole ordeal very well planned out.

"Mr. Ichirou has asked us to acquire you. He would very much like to speak with you," the man answered openly.

"Who the fuck is that?" I bit back.

"Well let's just say he won't be happy to hear that you've forgotten him," the guy warned calmly as he pulled out a handkerchief. "So we can either do this the hard way or the easy way."

It reeked of some kind of liquid for a car. _That's not chloroform. What did Mr. Daichi say about this stuff? Ether?_ _Greeeaaat…_ I considered my options. _Well, if I just gave in that would leave a bad impression, now wouldn't it?_ I brought my leg up and kicked the gun clean out of the one guy's hand. The big guy to my right immediately jumped into action, grabbing both of my forearms and holding them against his chest, causing me to fall back and face the guy to my left. I could have probably gotten away had this occurred on the street and not in a car. The space was too confined. I couldn't get out of their grasps. The one who spoke held down my knees as I tried to squirm free. He slapped the handkerchief over my face, covering both my mouth and nose. I held my breath calmly for a few seconds, but they considered that in their plans as well.

The suit in the passenger seat leaned over and started punching me in the ribs repetitively. The first hit wasn't so bad, I barely winced thanks to the training I had been doing with Kurama and Hiei. The second punch landed exactly where the first one had. Then a this was starting to try me. With everyhit the pain increased. I definitely had a few cracked ribs at this point. There was still nothing I could do to get away, I couldn't even squirm at this point. The seventh punch definitely broke two or three ribs and I couldn't hold it in any longer. I gasped for air through the cloth and immediately started gagging from the fumes. My eyes stung from the potent chemicals. The guy in the passenger seat continued to hit me in the same spot over and over and over. I gasped and choked for air until everything started to become numb. The guy was still hitting me but all I could feel was the searing pain in my side. Someone said something. Then my sight went black.

* * *

"Sorry boss, I think we might have taken it too far. She could have internal bleeding."

The throbbing and piercing pain in my side came back with a vengeance. I was tied up somewhere.

There was a loud slapping noise and then a crashing of someone being thrown into a cabinet or something. "You idiots, now I have to drug her to keep her alive for a few more minutes. Harue, you know what to do with him."

There was a pinching in my shoulder. It was definitely something being injected into my bloodstream.

"Mr. Ichirou, I'm sorry! Please don't," the guy was begging and started to cry as his voice faded into the distance. "I'm so sorry! Mr. Ichirou, _please_!" And then a door closed and it went silent.

"That's the best I can do, sir," a deep voice came from behind me. "My only other suggestion would be to wake her up and do what you need to do now. If she does have internal bleeding, she might last another twenty minutes or so… and that's giving her the benefit of the doubt. I've heard stories about this girl. She's practically inhuman, but she's not immortal."

This Ichirou guy grunted and the door opened and closed again. More silence.

Ice cold water splashed on my face and chest. I gasped and opened my eyes to see this stout and rather fat man dressed in a dark gray pinstripe suit. He was almost completely bald but his facial features were softer than I would have guessed. (A/N: Not quite as short or ugly as Tarukane I guess. We all remember him right? XD) I glanced him over again as he held out his… hands? Well, one was more like a carving knife, and the other was a prosthetic. "They said you didn't remember me, you little cunt."

I clenched my teeth, trying not to focus on my rib cage that was screaming for help. _No hands… Mr. Daichi… I remember this guy…_

 _"Mr. Ichirou, Tatsuhiro's girl is here," the man announced.  
"Let her in," Ichirou responded without glancing up from his paper. Mr. Daichi and I entered the room and the man closed the door behind us. "What is it?" he asked grumpily.  
"Sir," I started a little shakily, "I've been ordered to bring your hands back to Tatsuhiro."  
Ichirou set down his paper and looked me over, then he started laughing, "Seriously?"  
I looked up at Mr. Daichi and he nodded once. "Yes, sir," I replied and pulled out the meat cleaver from inside my middle school uniform jacket. Ichirou started laughing harder and I swung down the meat cleaver on his wrist. Blood squirted every which way as Mr. Daichi gagged Ichirou before he could start screaming out in pain.  
"Quickly, Rhea," Mr. Daichi warned. I lifted the meat cleaver again and swung it down on Ichirou's other hand. Ichirou squirmed and kicked around and Mr. Daichi struggled to keep him quiet. "Good, now—" The man who had answered the door came bursting into the room. "Rhea!" Mr. Daichi called to me.  
I knew what he meant and pulled out the M1911 pistol, aimed it at the man, and pulled the trigger. "Let's get out of here," Mr. Daichi replied, then turned to Ichirou. "You might want to cauterize that," he offered his advice to the bleeding out Ichirou. He then scooped up the two severed hands into a bag and took up my hand and guided me out of the house._

"Yeah, I remember you now," I grimaced. "You look like shit, dude. What happened to your hair?" I wanted to laugh just to piss him off but ended up coughing instead.

A hand came down and across my left cheek jolting my head right. He had rings on some of his fake fingers that dug into my skin. Within a second, blood was dripping down my cheek and my mouth was filling with the iron-tinged liquid. "You should be more courteous to the man that's about to put you out of your misery," Ichirou spoke, still calm even though it was obvious I had insulted him. I spat some blood out as my vision started to clear. That's when I noticed that I had been completely stripped of my clothes. My legs were strapped to either side of this big metal chair and my arms were tied to a bar on the back of it.

I glared up at him. At this point I wanted to piss him off as much as possible. I wanted him to piss me off as much as possible. Why? Because I had just realized I could free my arms of the knot that held them together. All I needed was about a minute or two to do it without his noticing.

He didn't like my reaction I guess because he clenched the metal hand into a fist and punched me in the cheek this time. That one hurt. I gasped for air. "I will make you pay for what you did to me two years ago. I will torture you slowly until the life fades from your eyes." He paused and then placed his knife-hand on my left collar bone, just hard enough to feel the blood start to slowly drip down my body as it mixed with the water beaded across my chest. "I have been waiting for this moment for a very long time."

"Oh, trust me," I bit back, strained from all the pain I was experiencing, "I can't wait to kill you either."

Ichirou gave a somewhat bemused chuckle, thinking he was winning. He dragged the knife down over my breast just barely missing the nipple. The cut wasn't very deep but the slow and steady object being dragged through my skin was an extremely agonizing, almost burning sensation. I bit down on my lip to stop any sound I would have made at the pain.

This clearly egged him on even more. I just continued to stare him down, and I slowly worked at the knot with my hands.

"Fine, let's do it your way then." He went over and picked up my gun off of a small metal cart. There wasn't much else which clued me in that this was some sort of designated torture room. He cocked and aimed the gun at me from across the now seemingly small room and pulled the trigger. A bullet shot into my right thigh. My entire body cried out in pain from the initial hit, and my head dropped as the pain narrowed into what was now the most predominant wound. The throbbing was overbearing at first. _I can't remember… is this the first time I've ever been shot point-blank?_ I muffled my whimper as best I could. I was definitely not giving him that satisfaction.

I watched as thick, dark blood oozed out over my leg. My vision had gone red. My cheek, ribs, chest, and now leg were pulsating back in forth almost making somewhat of a melodic quartet of agony. I was starting to lose focus on my surroundings again. It felt like I was swaying just slightly, even though I was tied down. I continued to try and work at the knot. It was finally starting to loosen ever so slightly.

"Damn." Ichirou walked back towards me. "You really are something else." His prosthetic hand reached out and took up my chin forcing me to look at him again. "I'll make you a deal. You give me one good scream and I'll end this."

"Go fuck yourself," I hissed, nearly choking on the blood dripping down towards my throat.

Ichirou turned the gun upside down and shoved it up my thighs. As the cold barrel ripped at my thighs and up into my insides I gasped as my head snapped back in reaction to this new onset of spasming, piercing infliction. I couldn't even breath the pain was so intense. The ceiling went in and out of focus and the swaying feeling intensified. _Oh my_ fucking god! _I'm going to fucking tear you apart!_

There was a knock at the door. Ichirou left the gun between my legs as he straightened himself back out. "What?!" he demanded.

"Sir! The building is under attack! The intrud-" I got both of my hands free and pulled out the gun from my vaginal area and shot the guy at the door. I immediately pointed the gun at Ichirou and shot him in the shoulder. As he fell back, I started untying my legs.

"You little _bitch_!" Ichirou tried to stand but I shot him again in the kneecap as I went to untie my other leg. I nearly fell over when I went to stand. My body was screaming with every movement. It was all one overbearing humming of pain now. I was starting to go numb. But I'd be fucking damned if I didn't take this bastard out with me.

I lunged toward him, pinning his arms down with my knees. _Funny… I'm going out of this hot mess the same way I got into it…_ an image of the guy Tatsuhiro had me shoot in the mouth all that time ago flashed in my mind. I set the gun down above where his head had hit the ground. I unlatched his knife hand and proceeded to stab him profusely in the chest.

Everything was going numb at this point. I kept stabbing him harder and harder, even though I felt less every time. My vision was now going black again. It was like being in a sick and twisted nightmare where you were trying to defend yourself but you felt like you were still losing somehow.

I heard gunshots and screams coming from the doorway which snapped my attention to it. My vision was coming back, but it was still blurred. All I could really tell was a man emerged in the doorway. I had already picked up my gun and had it aimed at him. But something stopped me from pulling the trigger. I knew that presence. The magenta clothing and red hair slowly started to clarify and I could smell the faint hint of roses.

 _Kurama…_ I started to feel myself breathe again. Another figure emerged behind him and I pulled the trigger without thinking. The man grunted and fell motionless.

I lowered my gun to my side and looked back down at the very, very dead Ichirou between my legs. It made me feel like I was going to be sick. I somehow managed, with much difficulty, to stand up. My numbing pain whirled around me as my vision violently started going in and out again.

I think I managed to make it a few steps before I realized I was being cradled on the ground. My eyes were open but I couldn't see anything. Breathing was too painful at this point. I sputtered and gagged on what my body was forcing itself to take in. The only comfort I found was the heat of Kurama's body against mine.

"Botan!" Kurama clearly yelled in horrified panic. _I've never heard him sound scared before…_

"What's wron-" I could hear Botan gasp. It sounded like she was talking over a phone or something.

"Help me! She's dying!"

"I'm already on my way!"

* * *

 **A/N: Well that was fun! XD**

 **REVIEW FAVORITE AND FOLLOW!**

 **Cause I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaack!**

 **Toodles. Love ya guys.**


	8. Chapter 8

"How is she?"

"Stable," Kurama. "For now at least. You should rest. She will need your healing powers again soon."

"Alright," Botan? "What are you going to do?"

"I need to keep monitoring her vitals, her heart rate and breathing are still too slow."

* * *

 _What happened?_

* * *

"Why don't you get some rest? I can watch over her for a while." Botan again.

"That isn't necessary," Kurama.

"Yes it is! You've been sitting here feeding her energy for days without any sleep! You're going to burn yourself out!"

"Perhaps I have mislead you; I did not ask for your advice, Botan."

 _Why is he so upset?_

Botan sighed. "Why are you being so stubborn? You already said she's recovering and all her vitals are back to normal and have been sustained for almost a whole day."

There was a silence.

"Fine. But I'll be right here watching over her too."

* * *

A white light flooded over my eyelids and the total blackness danced into light yellows and oranges. I blinked awake to meet a mid morning sunlight blinding me through the window. I winced at the flooding light and turned my head away to find Kurama sleeping on his arms over his desk that sat next to his bed. _I bet I died and went to some fucked up hell with a twisted sense of humor…_

I winced in pain and grunted as I moved to sit up. My side was still killing me. As the sheets fell away from my chest, I noticed that they had put me in a big button down white shirt. Then I felt pain sear up from my left thigh. _Fuck… after all that time, I finally get shot… I've gotta be dead…_

"Rhea," Kurama breathed. I looked over to where I had found him. He looked like he had never actually fallen asleep. He definitely looked tired, though. A small smile appeared on his face, but he didn't say anything. I just kind of stared at him for a minute. "Glad to see you have finally decided to wake up."

"Either that or I'm still getting used to kicking the bucket," I shot back lazily. He tried to choke down a chuckle, and there was more silence. Now that my eyes were adjusted to the daylight, I glanced over Kurama's bedroom before looking out the window at nothing in particular. I felt really awkward. I wasn't sure why. I mean there's the obvious that I was ashamed for having to be saved again, but I'm like a hundred and thirty-eight percent sure I'm supposed to be dead. Every time I went back over what had happened, a little more came back to me. _Yeah… I'm sure Kurama finding that bleeding out fucking mess of a monster was real fucking sexy…_ _Jesus Christ… Did that guy ever pull the trigger a second time? So much for my mafia days being left behind…_ "How long was I out?" I heard myself ask aloud.

"Five days," Kurama answered promptly, "I got all of your school affairs sorted out… and your father thinks you went on an extended school field trip."

"Thank you," I felt myself respond still feeling kind of dazed from taking it all in.

"Botan helped a great deal with the initial healing. She should be the one to thank."

"Did she…" I found myself lose my momentum to ask but Kurama picked up on it all too easily.

"I asked Botan to heal that area. She does not have to touch people to heal them. She said the damage seemed minimal, just some scraping and bruising." I didn't respond so he changed the topic. "Your leg and your side should only need one more session of healing. The damage done was extensive and we had to break up the healing process into several sessions."

"That's fine," I replied too quickly. I didn't want to dwell on this anymore. Physically I seemed fine, but I knew if I didn't advert my thoughts I would slip into a rather deep depression and I wasn't ready to deal with the mental side of it all.

The next thing I knew, Kurama was attacking me in a hug. I gawked at him wide eyed as his arms wrapped around me and held me tightly against his chest. His hair fell in my face and around both our shoulders. It smelt heavenly compared to the last thing I remember smelling, which my own blood pouring dangerously fast out of my body. _What the hell?!_ "K-Kurama?" _He couldn't have possibly been this worried… well… he_ could _always be on crack..._

He didn't say anything and he wasn't letting me go either. I twitched in pain as my side spoke up and reminded me that oh yes, in fact, I should be dead. He loosened up and released me when he felt my body wince in pain. There was an awkward silence for a moment as I tried not to make eye contact with him. "I'll get you some food and water. You must be famished." He offered as an excuse to leave the room.

"Hey," it took everything I had to speak up. I really, _really_ didn't want to but it was bound to be addressed sooner or later. He stopped in the doorway, his hand still resting on the door knob. I took in a deep breath and stared at my hands in my lap, "Do you actually care about me that much?"

"I thought we established that the other night," he replied casually.

"Well, yeah, but," _fuuuuuuck…_ "I mean, you could have just been doing it for your own sick and twisted personal amusement. At least, that was one of my first thoughts." I could have burned holes into my hands with my eyes. It fucking sucked to talk about this. I've never had to have - or even imagined having - conversations like this. Hell, I hadn't even thought about desiring anything for myself or how I'd act about it in years.

He sighed, but it wasn't heavy in a disappointed sense. It sounded more like he was basically struggling in the same way that I was. "What could I possibly gain from doing such a thing?" he asked and turned to leave again.

"Hey! Don't you dare walk away with that," I tried as I struggled with my still aching body to get out of the bed to hunt him down. I don't know why, but his vaguity was pissing me off. I really did not want keep doing this fucking dance. He stopped and turned back towards me again. He was about to protest my moving about, but when he stopped so did I. I sat on the edge of the bed trying to ignore my body arguing with me. "I'm trying to be fucking serious about this here." I stopped trying to figure out what the hell I was doing. _What the fuck is wrong with me..._

Kurama let go of the door and leaned against the wall facing me and put his hands in his pockets. There was that oh so wonderfully unbearable silence again. I could feel him watching me carefully from across the room but my gaze managed to advert itself away from him to stare at my feet. _Botan must have cleaned me up pretty well…_

"Fair enough," he finally spoke up. "Then let us be brusque."

I couldn't figure out which would be worse; dying or this right here. Before my mind could catch up with my body or my mouth, I had gone into this horrible frenzy of anxiety and heart wrenching feelings. This moment was here and I was not ready for it. I couldn't escape it even if I wanted to. I had somehow allowed myself to bring this head on without even thinking about it. _How the hell did I get here? I mean really, Rhea? You can't even take a breath of air before throwing your stupid ass self into another catastrophe! Fuck it all…_

"Why did you kiss me the other night?" The words came out along with the frustration I had towards myself.

Kurama's tension seemed to ease so I finally looked up at him. He seemed to have just realized this would be easier for him than he must have originally thought. "I believe the saying is 'actions speak louder than words'."

Well that definitely shut up a lot of the frustration and immediate self harming thoughts swirling through my head. "Ok...so," my mouth was going off before I could form the thought in my head. I had pretty much given up on thinking this whole thing through. "Why in the hell would a several hundred-year-old demon like a weak ass human teenager in the first place?"

Kurama thought about his answer for a while. He seemed unphased by how I phrased the question, like he was expecting it really. "I'm afraid I don't have an answer for that." He seemed to have made a pretty plain as day statement until he added, "Asking 'how' or 'why' when dealing in matters of the heart is almost never clear to anyone."

I'm sure I had read something along those lines before. I couldn't really argue with him, seeing as I would have given a similar answer myself. There's the obvious: we're pretty much the only two people in the whole town who can actually hold an intellectual conversation. Not to mention we are definitely the only two people we know of leading double lives, which separates us drastically from everyone else. We spend a lot of time together. He's saved my ass several times. But then again, he's fucking annoying and a complete jack ass most of the time. So I couldn't really figure out why or how I had fallen for him either.

I guess for the time being I'd have to accept the outcome of this little heart-to-heart. But then again, I did have an opening now, "So you're satisfied with being a pedophile then, huh?"

His smile turned sharp, "Well, technically, our bodies are only a couple of months apart. But it is a little troubling that yours should have expired a few times over by now, and that would make me more of a necrophiliac than a pedophile."

I had to stifle a laugh at that one. He was very good at showing me the brighter sides of darker situations.

Before the silence crept in again, he took his leave. I went over the conversation a few times as I figured out how to move again. I guess I was satisfied with what I got out of it. I didn't seem to have those aching feelings in my chest or any signs of anxiety about it. So I guess I could consider it a win. As I thought about it, it became clear to me that he was definitely struggling to address the elephant in the room as well. I figured it'd be best to leave a few of his thoughts to himself and not figure out why it had bothered him. For whatever reason, he was shy about the fact he had been crushing on me just like I was him. I'll take it.

I got my shit together and followed him downstairs. He set out some lunch for me to eat before walking me home. There he finished healing my wounds and left rather quickly. We didn't really say much, which of course lead to that fucking silence. I slept the rest of the afternoon and through the night.

I woke up early enough to head out before my father or sister started stirring about and ended up pulling the field trip story off easily enough. I spent the next week double timing the homework to catch up and started training again. My strength came back quickly and it seemed to be improving more consistently. Except for one thing: my fucking corrosive power stayed locked up. Hiei joined a few training sessions here and there and nearly killed me a few times. Almost took out his arm once. I didn't see him again for a while after that one.

But everything considered, my life was back to being quiet again. On the outside everything seemed back to normal. Kurama and I rarely ran into each other during the school day. He was at least nice enough to let his fan girls keep up their delusions. It was even more amusing now. Every once in and a while he'd slip in a kiss on the cheek or hand just to fuck with me. Somehow that ended up being our little fucked up trade off of entertainment at the expense of the other.

So anyways, there I was walking into school one morning, nothing special or out of the ordinary, when the dean seeks me out. "Miss Sarama," he called from a few classroom doors down as I headed towards mine.

 _Oh fuck me, what the hell did I do now?_ I rolled my eyes and turned back to him. "I swear it wasn't me," I held out my hands in mock defense.

"That's a believable statement," he shot back rather sarcastically. "My office. Now."

 _This can't be good…_ I followed him to his office while protesting. "Come on dude, I've been following all the rules. Look, I even started wearing the proper uniform months ago."

"Oh, then can you explain to me why you've missed so many classes since the day you started here?" he contended as he ushered me into his office and closed the door for privacy.

 _Fuck…_ there was no way in hell I was about to tell him all the reasons why I missed school. I glared at him quietly as he went and sat down at his desk. He gestured for me to sit across from him as he opened a file and started flipping through it. Normal students at this point would be anxiety ridden, trying to think of how to excuse themselves for their lack of interest and attendance in school. I went into my default mode where my mind and body were cold and calm. I sat down in one of the two seats across from the desk without a word.

"Your silence is what concerns me, Rhea," he admitted as he closed the file again. I just sat there staring him down. I had wondered if this would ever come up. "It seems you are rather easily dismissed. Your paperwork and reports are pushed under the rug so to speak by most staff members," he continued. "I took the liberty of going over your file the other day. It's rather interesting to say the least. You have missed more school days than any other student I've ever seen, yet somehow you have some of the highest scores in your grade."

"I'm not cheating if that's what you're after. I just happen to learn really fast," I bit back in defense.

"I wasn't trying to imply that. In fact you probably should have been in more excelling classes," he brushed it off. "I saw you get into that limo and then you were gone the whole week. Want to explain that?"

"Nope," I shrugged.

He sighed and rubbed his temples for a moment. He left his fingers at the sides of his head and kept his eyes shut, "Rhea, I know you were involved with the Tatsuhiro mafia."

 _Oooooohh fuuuuuuck…_ I took in a slow deep breath at that. "Excuse me?"

"I've known for quite some time," he continued after he released his temples and opened his eyes with another sigh. "And before you jump to any conclusions I want you to know that your secret is safe with me. In fact, I've been the one deterring other faculty members from addressing your absences."

"Okay," I didn't have anything prepared for this, "Why are you telling me this?" Yep, that's about all I had.

"That's an interesting story actually," he sat back in his chair. "About a year ago I received a very disturbing call from my little brother. He's a lieutenant in the police force. He was doing an undercover operation last year on the Tatsuhiro mafia. He said he was in a shootout when he was saved by a little girl in this school's male uniform." He lifted an eyebrow sternly.

"Huh…" I pressed my finger against my cheek trying to recall the incident.

* * *

" _Where the_ fuck _is that Sarama bitch?"_

 _I ducked down behind a crate as more gunshots went off. I ripped out the empty magazine and replaced it with a fresh one. Some guy came diving between the crates behind me. I didn't recognize him from the mafia family attacking our base nor as one of our own. I held my fully loaded gun to his nose._

" _P-please don't shoot… I'm one of your guys, I swear," the man begged nearly about to shit himself._

" _Don't look familiar to me," I replied sharply, "Maybe your weak ass is the reason we're under attack right now. All the more reason to kill you." I stared him down, that part of me I referred to as the machine of the mafia in full control. I saw something shine from within his jacket and ripped it out. It was a police badge that was about to fall out of the inside breast pocket. I threw it at his face in disgust, my gun never wavering in the other hand. I took his gun from his hand and stuck it into the back of my pants. Next, I took the wires that were exposed when I grabbed at the badge and yanked those out. He winced as tape ripped away from his skin and the wires revealed a small recording device. I punched the guy in the face to knock him off balance before smashing the device with my foot. "Pick it up."_

 _The man whimpered and picked up his badge and broken device, "What are you gonna do now?"_

 _Some guy came around the corner and I shot him square in the temple over this guy's shoulder._ I should kill him… if they found out this happened and I had let him survive they'd probably kill me… and Neima… _I swallowed the vomit that nearly escaped my throat with the thought. Something pulled at me though. "You never met me," I kicked the vent to the air conditioning next to the floor and it fell off its hinges. "This one is a straight shot to the outside. Cover your tracks, don't let anyone see you, and I won't hunt you down and kill you."_

 _The man nodded, beads of sweat dripping down his face._

 _Another man from the attacking tribe of criminals rounded the corner and shot at us. We both hit the deck before I shot at him. He fell down limp and I ran to him, picking up his machine gun and started climbing the crates. I looked back to see the man finish crawling inside the ventilation and place the vent back on its hinges. I turned back and positioned myself so I could see most of the warehouse floor and held down the trigger, shooting everyone who didn't belong to the Tatsuhiro mafia._

* * *

I felt vomit stir up in my throat again before swallowing it back down.

"We talked about it in great depth," the dean probably read my facial expression. "I've always wanted to personally thank you for sparing my little brother's life. He confessed he was worried what would happen to you. He said if the mafia ever found out and hurt you or your family he'd never forgive himself."

"Well, as I'm sure you're aware then, that this is an unnecessary conversation, now isn't it," I replied coldly as I stood to leave. "The Tatsuhiro family is dead."

"Yes, my brother called to inform me about that as well," the dean replied quickly in an attempt to keep my attention. "When I saw you get into that limo the other day I realized a few things. The first being that you are still a safety hazard to the other students to this school." I snorted in agreement. "The other being that you haven't been a child for a few years now. You function as an adult."

"I'm leaving now," I interrupted as I turned my back to him, "This conversation never happened."

"Naturally," the dean agreed, "But what if I told you that I could help you graduate early?"

I set my bag down and sat back down in the seat crossing one leg neatly over the other and folding my hands over my knees. "Now you have my attention."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry I took a little longer than I wanted to for this one. Life stuff, you know. Hope you guys liked it! I'm already well into the next chapter here so I hopefully won't keep you guys waiting too long.**

 **Shout out to my followers! You guys are all awesome. I love you all. And hopefully this guest "Yuyu4Eva" comes back, wish I could thank them personally.**

 **Also, I'd like to give a huge thank you to my wonderful, hot, smart, funny editor WingsofWaxx! She edits professionally now and she's damn good. She's been my editor for several years. She does everything from fanfiction to college essays. You can find her here at ff. She is always happy to take on new clients. :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry it took so long guys. please don't kill me -hides in corner-**

* * *

I put a book down at the checkout table in the school's library. It was definitely not a morning person. I woke up an hour earlier than usual for this damned thing. The librarian at our high school gave me this huge smile, "Well, I've never seen you in here before. What sparked your interest?"

 _Creeper…_ "Uhh," way too early. "The bookstore I usually go to was out of this one and I want to finish it by Friday."

Her eyes grew wide, "You're going to read this entire textbook in less than a week?" She looked back to the textbook issued for a college course that students could take in their last semester of high school to get a jumpstart in their college careers. The dean had given me the opportunity to test out of my remaining classes so that I could graduate early. He asked that I not talk about it with other students (like I talked to other students). He said the school frowned upon this method because it was cheaper for students to get their credentials. And private schools do love their money. It was mostly only used for students suffering from chronic illnesses or tragic events.

"Probably." I shrugged as she handed the book back to me, "Thank you." I turned and started walking away before she could harass me any more. I finished stuffing the book in my bag as I entered the hallway. I stopped just short of running into Kurama who was probably waiting for me. "Oh god," I grumbled.

His little grin cued me in that he was up to no good. "Well, good morning Miss Sarama," he sounded way too light hearted as well.

"What are you doing?" I asked suspiciously as I stopped fiddling with my bag.

"I wanted to give this to you," he held out a little white box wrapped in a plain white ribbon.

"Um." I looked at the box and then back to him with no intent to play along. "Why?"

His grin grew even more malicious as he stepped close pushing the box into my hand. "Revenge for last month," he whispered darkly in my ear. It was then that I saw two of his fan girls staring at us from around the corner. It was part of his plot. He wanted them to see this.

"Oh, you son of a bitch," I breathed realizing I was about to be harassed by two of the most annoying girls in school.

He choked down a chuckle as he continued his way down the hallway. _Jesus Christ, it's White Day isn't it?_ "What the _hell_ did I do to deserve this?" The girls were approaching quick and I tried to shove the box in my jacket pocket.

"See, I told you!" the one girl was saying.

"What did he get you?" The other ignored the first and addressed me.

"Um, it's probably empty," I admitted flatly. "It was a joke."

"No, there's no way!" the first girl cried. "You're the one who made the bold move on Valentine's day. He never gives a White Day present!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" I growled. I was so not awake enough for this shit. "I've never given anyone a Valentine's Day present, especially not _him_."

"Well, actually," the second started to explain it.

* * *

 _One Month Ago:_

 _I was walking down the hall after the lunch break when I saw Kurama pensively studying his locker. It looked amusing so I went over to him. "You look like you're trying to figure out how to disarm a bomb in your locker."_

 _"Yes," Kurama replied without breaking his attention, "that's a rather accurate metaphor."_

 _"Oh, good! I'm here to watch then," I teased and looked over the locker. It was about to burst with candy. I could see corners of wrappers sticking out through the vents of the door. "What's the occasion?" I asked as I pulled out a bright green lollipop that stuck halfway out of one of the slits._

 _"It's Valentine's Day," he answered shortly._

 _"Oooooh," I stifled a laugh and then unraveled the lollipop and stuck it in my mouth. "What, you don't like sweets?"_

 _"The main issue here is that when I open the locker most of the candy is going to fall out," he informed me of his current dilemma to which I had not cared to ask about. "And no, (OMG) I'm not too fond of most sweets."_

 _"Oh, well," I perked up with a solution. "I can do this," I opened up my messenger bag and held it under his locker door, "And I'll take it home to Neima. She loves it."_

 _Kurama rather quickly opened his locker and about three good handfuls of candy fell into the bag. He immediately swept out the remaining candy in the locker into the bag as well and then shut the locker door as if he was disgusted with it._

 _I closed my bag and threw it over my shoulder. "There, problem solved."_

 _"Yes, well hopefully the girls who placed the candy there didn't see that," he said with absolutely no shame._

 _"You like keeping them around to amuse yourself don't you?" I egged him on._

 _"Quite the oppo-" I stuck the lollipop I had been sucking on in his mouth to shut him up. He looked at me mortified._

 _"I'll see you at practice," I grinned and trotted off before he could reply._

* * *

I deadpanned. _I guess that's why he was seeking revenge…_ "Oh, this sucks…"

"But he likes you back!" the first girl opened her annoying face again.

"I just told you it was a joke," I growled. The girl made a squeak out of fear. I sighed, "look, you girls are thinking way too much into this whole thing."

"Hey Asami," another girl came up to them, "What's up?"

"Oh my god, Hana! You're never going to believe this!" The first girl responded. "Minamino just gave her a White Day present!" She pointed to me. I swear half the girls in the hallway heard that and looked at me.

 _Oh, fuck no!_ I turned and ran to the closest exit.

"Hey, wait come back!" I guess Hana tried.

I bolted all the way to the roof and slammed the door shut behind me and leaned against it hoping they didn't follow me. Hands were placed to either side of my head against the door and I turned to see Kurama there waiting for me with the most evil grin I've ever seen him wear. "You fucking ass ho-" He cut me off as he leaned in to kiss me. My eyes grew in horror as I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He pressed his hips against mine pinning me to the door never releasing me from the kiss.

This was evil. Pure fucking evil. I wanted to kill him. And I also wanted to swing my arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. _There is something really fucking wrong with me…_

"Hey it won't open! Are you sure she went up here?"

"Well, she's up here all the time. Just give the door a good push, sometimes it gets stuck."

Nope. _I'm gonna fucking kill him._

Kurama pulled me back towards him as the girl threw her weight into the door. Neither of us were expecting to door to swing open so quickly and he fell backwards taking me with him. It broke the kiss and I ended up sitting on his lap straddling him.

"You had this whole thing planned out didn't you?" I deadpanned. He shot me an innocent smile.

"Oh my god! Are you guys ok?" one of the girls asked blushing.

"Um, Hana, maybe we should leave them alone," the girl from earlier was completely red in the face.

"Oh dear god!" I stood up and Kurama made an "oof" as I made a jab at him with my heel. " _Shuichi_ , tell them this whole thing is a joke!"

"Well," he was acting bashful, "what if it wasn't?"

"What the _hell_ is wrong with you!?" I was so fucking mad. So. Fucking. Mad.

"Alright, alright," he stood and dusted himself off and turned to the girls. "I have to admit it was a prank. Miss Sarama just helps me with my literature papers from time to time. She made a comment about you ladies that I didn't approve of so I used this as an opportunity to teach her a lesson." That last part went right over their heads.

"Oh, so," Hana I think her name was, "You don't have feelings for Miss Sarama?"

"Not those sort of feelings, I'm afraid," Kurama answered dryly.

"Then you're still not looking for anyone?" Oh wait maybe this other one was Hana? I couldn't keep them straight. Why am I even trying?

"Again, I have to apologize ladies," Kurama was back to trying to let them down nicely like usual. "You know my only concentration right now is school."

"That's okay!" The first girl perked up. "That just means there's always a chance in the future! Come on, Hana. We have to get to class or we'll be late." They headed back down the stairs.

I stared at the doorway with a twitchy eye for a moment. Kurama was dying in a silent fit of laughter. "What the _fuck_ was all that?!" I snapped at him.

"I told you," he choked through bouts of laughter he was trying desperately to keep down. "I was seeking revenge for that stunt you pulled with the lollipop on Valentine's Day."

"You're gonna pay for this you jackass!" I threatened.

"And how exactly are you going to _make me pay_?" he played back.

I saw something in the sky behind him that caught my attention. It was most definitely a demonic energy and it was getting closer. I completely dropped the previous topic, "Uh… Kurama…"

"That doesn't sound threatening at all," he replied but stopped when he realized I wasn't talking about the same thing anymore.

"You might want to turn around," I suggested.

He did so and his demeanor changed to a more serious one, "I have to admit, sometimes I'm really appreciative of your keen ability to sense the presence of other demons." The demon seemed to be headed straight towards us, both of us realizing this guy was about to be way bigger than we wanted him to be.

"You guys just stick out a little bit. You know, like a pineapple in a bucket of grapes," I shot back sarcastically as my way of thanking him for the compliment.

"That's a rather amusing comparison," Kurama threw back as he pulled a rose out from somewhere behind his head. I still hadn't quite figured that one out. Before either of us could do anything else the demon hit the rooftop with such force it knocked both of us back. This guy was truly enormous. I'm talking bigger than both Kurama and I combined, and I was only about an inch or two shorter than him. My eye level didn't even reach this giant's elbow. He had bat-like wings that were folding in after the landing. His eyes were sunken in and his nose and jawline protruded out ungracefully. He was covered head toe in a greyish-tan coat of mangled fur. He almost looked like a mix between a werewolf and a yeti with wings to be honest.

"Dare I ask, to whom do we owe the displeasure of encountering?" Kurama spat out like a bad taste in his mouth.

"Your energy is that of a very old demon," The beast spoke in a very deep and raspy voice filled with a lust for blood. "Yet you smell like a human boy."

Kurama clenched his fist and formed a rose again ready to turn it into his whip and attack. This giant fucking demon easily took a step towards me and snatched me up off the ground by my forearm. He nearly pulled my damn arm out of the socket. I didn't even have time to react. My bag slipped off my left shoulder as I was held dangling about three feet off the ground. "Jesus _fuck_!"

Kurama paused studying the demon. This gigantic beast was way too fast for him to try and attack while he had a hold on me. I might as well have been a fucking throw pillow for this guy. He hurled me at Kurama. I felt my body make contact with his as I took him down, but the force of the throw was so intense my body bounced off of his when he hit the floor and slid face and shoulder first across the floor behind him.

 _Well this is a new level of pain! Good fucking god!_ I tried to find my limbs and finally pushed myself up onto all fours. I felt blood drip down the side of my face and watched as it splat against the rooftop. _Huh… I wonder how many concussions I can get today._ I looked over to Kurama who was also still in the process of getting back up after having the wind knocked out of him.

The demon grabbed him by the throat and picked him up and brought him to his eye level. _This is_ so _not good... We're totally fucked…_ The demon held out his other hand about two feet away from Kurama's face. Somehow he started draining some kind of energy from Kurama. I had no idea what I was looking at, but it definitely did not look good. All I could really figure out was the flow between Kurama and the giant's hand was not demon energy.

I pulled out my gun from its holster around my thigh and shot the beast in the wrist that was pulling energy. The bullet literally just bounced off his fur. He didn't even flinch, or blink. He just kind of gave me a look and continued choking the shit out of Kurama. I aimed again and this time the bullet met its mark in the beast's eye. He howled and then threw Kurama's body at mine much like he had just thrown me at Kurama.

I guess he aimed lower this time because Kurama's body took me out chest to chest contact and we went sliding on my back about four feet. I rolled my head to look up at the sky as this demon took off flying again. Kurama's head was resting on my left shoulder and he was motionless. "Fuck." I shoved my gun back into its holster and started shaking Kurama's shoulders. He was heavy as shit when he was dead weight. It wasn't that he was heavier than I had expected, but it was more like someone put Thor's hammer on my chest and said 'haha! Try to move now bitch!'

"Hey, come on!" I tried and failed miserably to move him. "He's getting away… fuck!" I let my hands fall to the side. This was useless.

Finally Kurama groaned and started to sit up, looking rather out of it as he came back to. "What happened?" Then confusion and horror came across his face rather uncharacteristically. "Oh my- I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" he offered to help me up.

I looked around just to make sure we were the only ones up there cause I could only assume he'd act like that if innocent people were around. But there was no one else there. "Uh… did you hit your head?"

"I…" he stopped and thought about what he was going to say. "Why are we on the roof?" he started to sound more like himself, except for the fact that he was still playing innocent.

"Dude, you don't remember just getting our asses handed to us by that giant fucking demon?" I asked his suspiciously. _Oh god, please don't tell me…_

"What?" he tried not to laugh. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Oh, shit, dude. You better not be fucking with me again," I heard irritation in my voice as my fears seemed to be coming true.

"My apologies, ma'am," then he seemed to remember something, but it was _not_ what i wanted him to remember. "Are you not that second year rumored to have murdered an entire art room full of students?"

" _Jesus fucking Christ!_ Are you serious?!" I was trying and failing desperately not to lose it. " _That's_ what you fucking remember?!"

He looked a little worried as he slowly started to back towards the door. "I do apologize, miss, but I really should be getting to class now. I think we have a test today."

 _Oh fuck no!_ I lunged and blocked him from getting to the door. He put his hand on the door handle as my back met the door. "Kurama, you can _not_ be serious right now! This isn't funny!"

"I'm terribly sorry, miss, I think you have me confused with someone else. My name is Shuichi Minamino." He sighed, "I have no idea how I got up here… alone… with you… and frankly it concerns me. So, if you could be so kind as to let me pass and we can pretend this encounter never happened, it would be very much appreciated." It was really, truly awkward to hear him speak like this. Even his strain to keep his irritation under control seemed like his normal self, but if he were actually trying to mess with me, he wouldn't sound so serious about it. _This can't be happening…_

"Yeah, about that…" _Aw, fuck… what the hell am I supposed to say?! I mean, did he hit his head and get amnesia or did that demon do something to him?_ "I can't let you lose in there like this… assuming you're serious…" I felt like a fucking idiot. But seriously, how could I let someone who had the physical abilities of a demon without knowing it go waltzing around a bunch of frail little humans?

"Oh?" he lifted an eyebrow trying to play along. Probably in hopes to somehow get my guard down to run away… _but wait… Does he still_ think _like Kurama if he doesn't have his memories? How many of his memories are gone? I mean, did he lose them all or just pertaining to me or what? Oh my god! Please be some fucked up joke!_ "And why is that?" he asked almost crudely.

"Umm…" _shit…_ "Look I know this sounds really crazy, but I think you have some kind of amnesia…" _yeah, I sound crazy… fuck…_

"And how exactly did I acquire _amnesia_?" he was clearly getting more frustrated but then he turned his head, "And why is your head bleeding?"

I sighed knowing I was about to seem like a basket case, "Because this really big ugly ass fucking monster flew down here and beat the shit out of me… and I don't even know what he did to you, but I'm starting to think that's why you have no idea what's going on right now… and then he flew off again… and now you have some sort of amnesia… and you don't remember me… do you even know that you're a demon?" _I'm just gonna stop…_

He took a moment to respond. "With all due respect, ma'am, you may want to have that injury examined… and possibly a psychological evaluation." With that, he used what strength he thought he had to try and pry me from the door and ended up sending me a could of feet away.

My face hit the pavement again in exactly the first place it hit which was bleeding even more now. I grunted half out of frustration and half out of pain. _Wooooow! Good_ fucking _god, man!_ I definitely had never been thrown around quite like that before. In fact, I have never experienced Kurama's pure physical strength. And the fact that he had no idea how strong he actually was probably did not help at all.

I pushed myself to sit up shakily from the impact and held my head that was now pounding and burning with pain, blood instantly starting to ooze over my hand slowly. At least it still felt like just a flesh wound. _So that's concussion three I'm assuming? How the fuck do I keep living through this bull shit?_

"I-I am sincerely sorry. I have no idea what came over me," Kurama sounded somewhere between actually afraid and shocked stupid and it just sounded so… _wrong_... He came over and knelt down to help me. "Please, let me take you to the nurse's office."

I sighed and sat with my head in my hand with my eyes closed. _Yeah, I really can't let him go around other people like this… so… this next part is either going to work or hopefully put me out of my fucking misery right now…_ I whipped out my gun with my right hand and held it up under his chin as my bloody left hand grabbed at his jacket collar in an attempt to keep him in place. He gasped just the slightest but kept his mouth shut. He looked honestly terrified, and he didn't wear it well.

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 **A/N: I'm gonna need all the reviews I can get to keep me floating through the next week. My parents are coming... -eye twitches-**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Well. 6 months later. I know. I suck. I'm sorry! But I finally broke through my writer's block! :D**

 **For those of you who are new, you might want to read chapter 9 first to know what's going on.**

 **Or you can start from the beginning which is actually another story called "On the Other Side: Total Desperation"**

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I sighed and sat with my head in my hand with my eyes closed. _Yeah, I really can't let him go around other people like this… so… this next part is either going to work or hopefully put me out of my fucking misery right now…_ I whipped out my gun with my right hand and held it up under his chin as my bloody left hand grabbed at his jacket collar in an attempt to keep him in place. He gasped just the slightest but kept his mouth shut. He looked honestly terrified, and he didn't wear it well.

"Alright, look bitch," I hissed through the pain still throbbing in my head. "Let me put it in more visible terms for you; you are going to come with me, or I am going to kill you. Sound like a fucking deal?"

Kurama gulped and nodded once slowly.

"Great," I grunted as I stood up carefully, still holding the gun to him. "You are going to get up, go over to that fire escape and climb down it, and then we are going to leave the school campus out the front entrance and take a left. Have any questions?"

"No, ma'am," he was starting to recollect himself but did what he was told. I followed behind him down the fire escape and right as he got down to the last few steps I cocked the gun from behind him just as a reminder in case he tried to make a run for it. I could see him practically jump in his skin. He continued to walk at a decent pace away from campus. He stopped after he turned left around the entrance way and behind the brick wall where we were now out of sight of bored student eyes.

I quickly grabbed up his hand and tugged at him as I started running, he followed and matched my pace easily and obediently. If I concentrated, I could still feel a slight pull towards the demon's energy who had attacked us. _This is insane…_

"Do you mind if I ask where we are going?" Kurama tried from behind me.

I glanced back at him but quickly turned back and kept running. _He's not even trying to stop me…_ I had no idea how to answer him. He wouldn't have understood a single thing that came out of my mouth anyways. "Can you stop asking me mundane questions?! I already told you we are going to get your fucking memories back."

"Yes, I understand that, but as I'm sure I have already stated, I believe you are clinically insane," he bit back at me.

I tried to ignore his comment as the energy of the demon I was trying to catch up with came to a halt and then started coming back in our direction. "Oh, fuck," I growled mostly to myself as the demon came around a corner and dove at us from the rooftops. I stopped and pushed Kurama and went down on top of him as the demon's claws just barely missed my shoulder blades. Then the demon was out of sight again and his energy was moving away.

"What the _hell_ was that?!" Kurama's voice nearly cracked out of horror as he jumped back up to his feet. I stared at him a little shocked. This man who is supposed to be someone I considered a friend and partner in fighting crime was nothing more than a scared teenage boy. Kurama really had been wiped clean from his body and all that was left was a timid outline of a wannabe Shuichi. I couldn't focus on that right now though. I absolutely had to get Kurama back. This was just too fucking weird.

"Does everything I say just go straight over that empty fucking head of yours?!" I took up his wrist again to start chasing the demon once more.

"That is absolutely not going to happen," Kurama went to take my hand off of his wrist and the next thing I knew I was thrown into the brick wall of the building next to us and my wrist was screaming in total agony.

"Jesus _fucking_ Christ!" I gasped as the wind got knocked out of me for the fourth time today. _You know, I honestly didn't think Kurama had this much physical strength…_ All of this getting thrown around stuff was really starting to take its toll on my body. I gave in to my buckling knees and half kneeled, half fell down onto the sidewalk.

Kurama knelt down next to me, "Are you alright? I didn't mean to harm you." He was trying really hard not to freak out any more than he probably already was.

"I'll get over it. Just... give me a second," I huffed back still trying to catch my breath. He sat back in silent concern. Hopefully that meant he was starting to accept the craziness. I studied his movements a little longer before attending to my wrist. My hand shook violently and when I tried to move it more pain shot up my forearm. _This bitch just broke my fucking wrist… he better regret this shit when he gets his memory back…_

I sighed and stood back up carefully. "Come on, he's getting away again."

He looked up at me from his knelt position. "May I just ask why you are putting yourself through all this agony?"

The way he phrased the question made me want to think more carefully before responding. I looked over this innocent shell, "Because you have done more for me than I could ever do for you."

His mind seemed to be working for a second as he made a hypothesis on who he was to me. "Does that mean we are… more than friends?" He sounded more confused than shy.

"How the f-!" _Of course his mind would jump to that…_ I deadpanned. "If I say yes, can we just go after the fucking demon already?" I growled through gritted teeth.

He looked pretty content with my response, "Well, at least I have good taste," he mused to himself as he looked over me like it's the first time he's ever considered me physically.

I couldn't figure out if I was more embarrassed or annoyed. "I really hate you right now. Let's go get my ass kicked by a giant fucking demon," I tugged at his arm but bothered not to hold on this time with my good hand. He thankfully followed me as I started up our run towards the demon's energy yet again.

The energy changed direction and we ended up ducking in and around alley ways until we came to a clearing in a little neighborhood where their irrigation streams ran. The demon looked like he was trying to crawl up under a little bridge. I immediately stopped and Kurama stopped just behind me.

"Just stay here. I really don't want to get killed by you today," I shot at him before trying to come up with some kind of plan. Kurama took a few steps back to watch silently in awe of the demon. I had to start somewhere and I wasn't really sure where that was so I just started yelling at the demon. "Hey! Yeti-looking mother fucker! What the hell did you do to my friend!?"

The demon turned to me with annoyance but did not respond and turned back towards the bridge.

"Ah, fuck it," I grabbed by M1911 out of its holster with my left hand, seeing as my right hand was broken. My aim wasn't as good with my left, but over the years of using the gun, I did get some practice in for an instance like this. "Bitch, you better answer me!" I pulled the trigger and a bullet went flying. It hit him in the forearm but just bounced off. He barely even noticed it, but it was just enough to get his attention again. _Fuck… I forgot about that..._

He started laughing as he turned towards me again, "You really think you have a chance in hell of fighting me kid?" This time he took a step in my direction.

 _Fuck. FUCK! Think of something..._ "You'd be surprised the shit I've walked away from," I taunted back. "So what the fuck did you do to my friend?"

His bellowing laughter ensued again but I guess he decided to humor me, or more himself. He held up a crystal looking object in his hand. "I collect and feed off of demonic memories, mostly because demons have more flavor, if you know what I mean."

 _Yaaay, I guessed it right…_ I sarcastically cheered to myself. "Ehh… no, sorry. I can't imagine too many memories actually have a flavor."

The demon eyed me over, "However, seeing as you've become such a nuisance, I guess I could make an acception. I've been wondering what I was going to catch for dessert anyways."

 _Why do I get the feeling that I am so totally fucked?_ I held the gun up ready to fire again as his free arm started to wind back. Before he could swing at me, I fired another round straight into his good eye rendering the demon completely blind. The demon growled as his arm abruptly smacked me dead on, laying me out flat on my back in the grass as the gun got knocked clear out of my hands.

I grunted as I tried to catch my bearings. I tried to push myself up but pain shot up through my right hand and arm reminding me of my broken wrist. I was way too slow though. The demon's hand had found me as he laced his fingers around my waist and lifted me up off of the ground and brought me to his face.

It wasn't like being a little kid and getting picked up by an adult. This was more like being a small rodent and getting picked up by a violent child. It felt like my rib cage was about to collapse under the pressure of his hand. "So what? You're gonna take my memories too?"

The demon laughed at me again. I could feel the bellowing vibrate through his arm and my body. "No, I think you'll be much more delicious if I just eat you whole."

"Ah, great," I replied sarcastically. I couldn't think of a way out of this. All I managed to do was make the fucker blind and I'm still about to die. I wasn't equipped for this type of shit. I was used to gunning down drug addicts for money they owed the mafia. I was used to making sure major black market deals went through soothly, and to smooth it out myself if it didn't. I was used to fighting gangsters in the alleyways and shooting anyone that rubbed my mafia boss the wrong way. Gun fights. Human sex trafficking. Drug deals. NOT taking on a fucking monster the size of a fucking house with magical fucking abilities! _I'm going to fucking DIE! This bitch is about to literally fucking eat me and I can't do anything about it!_

Then the pressure around my ribs was released. It was weird, sort of like an out of body experience. I could feel wind whip through my hair and skirt for a moment before I tried to move. But I was falling. And what I saw below me was one of the most horrifying things I had ever seen. The demon's head was thrown back facing the sky just below me. His jaw started to dislocate itself like a snake consuming its prey. There was so much saliva. His teeth were rotted and sharp. And I could see down his throat and realized I was definitely about to be swallowed whole. Time was frozen for me. Everything was happening in agonizingly slow motion.

And then out of the corner of my eye something shimmered. It was the pale green crystal like object that was in the demon's hands just a few moments ago. It was now falling towards it's doom along with me. It was what I assumed was the manifestation of Kurama's memories. I reached out to grab it. As I laced my fingers around the pointy object I noticed something else. This one was falling right past my face. It was the little white box falling out of my jacket pocket.

I wasn't really thinking anything at this point. I was just clinging to everything I could. Even though I had thought there was actually nothing in it, I reached for it with my free hand, my broken hand, anyways. The little white ribbon had given in and had unraveled causing the box to start to open as it fell. Whatever was inside reflected the sunlight intensely but I snatched it up through the agony in my hand anyways.

My surroundings were engulfed with warmth and white light.

Then darkness and silence.

* * *

Fingers ran through my hair near my scalp just above my left ear. They were warm and gentle and soothing. _Wait- what?!_ I bolted up to nearly clash my face with Kurama's. I was lying on my bed. Kurama was sitting on the edge of the bed next to me. Sunlight was flooding into the bedroom. _Was that shit really all just a dream?_ "What happened?" escaped my mouth.

"What do you mean?" Kurama blinked innocently.

"What do you _mean_ 'what do I mean'?!" I was already right back to being extremely aggravated by a really smart guy being really dumb. "Kurama don't you dare fuck with me!"

Kurama sighed, "For the fifth time, my name is Shuichi Minamino."

I jumped off of the bed ready to knock his ass out, "The _fuck_! Are you serious right now?! How the fuck am I alive?!"

Kurama stood up as well with hands up in innocence, "I'm just kidding, relax."

"You fucking better be! Or you better fucking hope I'm actually dead because I'm about to _fucking_ kill you!" I shouted in unadulterated rage.

My father opened the door and stuck his head in to make sure I wasn't making good on my promise, "You kids okay in here?" My dad. The conundrum that he was to me. I just kind of stared over at him suspicious of his parenting moment like I usually did nowadays.

"Uh…" I glanced back at Kurama who was displaying his back to normal stone cold emotionless face. I looked back at my father, "Yeah… we are okay…?"

"Oookay," my father sang, "just don't get the cops called." My dad closed the door again. I internally facepalmed.

Kurama cleared his throat and I looked back at him again. "What?" I tried not to growl. Kurama simply pointed at my right hand. I immediately realized that it was no longer broken, but there was something I was still clenching on to.

I held the object out in front of myself to look at it. It looked like a miniature white rose inside a clear teardrop assembled elegantly with silver to a thin silver chain. "What is this?"

"Well, if you had accepted your White Day present like a proper lady you would already know, and would have known how to use it to your advantage in your most recent fight," Kurama started wickedly.

"Oh go fuck yourself!" I interrupted. "You had the whole morning planned out to torment me until a demon came and crashed your little party for one!"

A snicker or two escaped Kurama's nose. Apparently he was still getting a lot of enjoyment out of the three first-years that chased me around school. "You're right. My apologies," he offered. He composed himself again for a grand elucidation. "What you hold in your hand is named the Muryokuna flower. It is an extremely rare flower that only grows in one field in the Spirit World. On my most recent visit, I happened to pass by as this one was blooming. They provide a short but extremely powerful boost of spirit power to the wielder. That is why you are still alive."

I took in his explanation and thought it over while analyzing the petrified flower. "So why did you give it to me?"

On beat, Kurama responded, "I thought the idea of having a power booster stored away might help ease your concerns a little. Although my original plan for presenting this item went awry, I think it's safe to say that I gave it to you in a timely manner. However, the power stored in the flower was used earlier. It's just a regular necklace now."

"Oh," I let out a little disheartened, "Okay." Kurama tilted his head the slightest as I looped the silver chain around my neck anyways. "Then I'll let it serve as a reminder."

Kurama looked genuinely curious, "And that would be?"

I gave him a heavy hearted smile knowing I was about to admit my own weaknesses. "That you've always had my back, even when it's not intentional."

Kurama quickly pulled me into one of the most sincere hugs I think I had ever experienced. It was shocking to say the least. I said something that apparently shattered his seemingly indestructible emotional wall. I couldn't see his face but his body was steady and warm.

"Eh…" _What the fuck is going on now?_ "Kurama?"

"Thank you."

"F-for what?"

He was silent for a moment. "For never giving up," he finally answered as he pulled away holding me at arm's' length. "And for not shooting me."

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 **A/N: hehheh aaahh... I know. I suck. XD I'm sorry guys. I love you all!**

 **Thank you for reading and please leave a review to tell how you felt about it! Or yell at me for not posting in 6 months**


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